Stars Over Terabithia
by Kryptale
Summary: As their freshman year of high school kicks off, Jess and Leslie deal with being different, unthinkable tragedy, and the mystery behind a long lost diary, all the while finding a way to strengthen the incredible friendship that they share. Please R&R!
1. Thanks To You

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter 1 - Thanks to you  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

With an incredible roar of thunder, the many clouds that had slowly been bundling together in devious preparation cut loose on Lark Creek. Having expected the storm, most of the countryside residents had already closed their windows and doors and were now greatly involved in watching the Weather Channel. More than a few tornadoes had popped up in the area in recent years, most of them caused by storms far less extreme than this one.

Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke rushed quickly for the creek separating their homes and the small woodland that they often referred to as Terabithia. The wind was picking up at rapidly, blowing hundreds of droplets of rain directly into their faces. Leslie feverishly pulled the back of her coat up over her short blond hair while roughly stuffing the small dog she had been carrying partially inside the unique red piece of clothing. Jess did his best shield his already soaked hair from the commencing onslaught.

When they reached the creek, which was normally very calm and not more than a couple of feet deep, both of them watched it in complete awe. It looked even more ferocious now than it had only an hour earlier, when they had crossed into Terabithia to retrieve Jesse's dad's keys from the "belltower" that Leslie had erected. It was actually more of a tree, but to them it was most certainly a tower.

After just a moment of studying the muddy water's rapid current, Leslie grabbed hold of a large tree branch and used it to pull the rope to her. Once she had it, she gained a firm grip on the wet rope and swung across. Once on the other side, she aggressively swung the rope back to Jess, who grabbed hold and came across to meet her, his feet skidding across the surface of the water as he did.

With another brief pause to examine the creek, the two friends rushed off through the fields and down the muddy road that lead to each of their houses. Leslie's house was down the first split in the road, hidden behind quite a few trees and bushes. Without a word, the girl turned down the path and lightly jogged a few steps before coming to a stop and looking over her shoulder.

Jess was still there, an awestruck expression locked onto his face. He didn't even seem to care that she could now see him, that she had turned her head and that their eyes had met. For a moment, neither did anything. Finally, Leslie smiled with some embarrassment, glad that the rain was providing cover for the hint of pink in her cheeks, and gave him a shy wave.

What Leslie didn't realize was Jesse's state of mind as he was watching her. For the first time in a very long time, Jess Aarons was thinking about how _lucky _he was. Years of being in an unstable family with extreme financial insecurity had driven him to a fairly unhealthy state of depression, something he hadn't recognized at his age. He did however, recognize feelings of hope, security and to some extent, affection. Lately, he had found himself experiencing those things frequently, and not just when he was around Leslie.

When the new girl had walked timidly into Monster Mouth Myers' class on the first day of school, there was no way that Jess could have known that she would change him forever. She was very good looking and happy when he had first seen her, something he had picked up on immediately. These were both things that he didn't associate with himself. He had stowed any hopes that he had of making a friend deep inside himself at that moment.

One thing that stood out in his mind though, was that Leslie's sense of fashion was extremely appealing to him. It wasn't anything he would ever be caught dead wearing, but he admired it. This girl was not only sporting an outrageous sense of style, but she was doing it very well. That, topped off with a single line from Scott Hoager had been the deciding factor in Jess sticking up for her.

_"Hey! New girl! This race is for guys!"_

_"What's the matter, Hoager? Afraid of losing to a girl?"_

Jess had caught himself wondering a time or two what exactly it was that Leslie saw in him. She was so wonderfully free spirited and happy all of the time. It had crossed his mind on more than a few occasions that if she met someone more interesting or more talented than he was, she would run off with that person. In Jesse's mind, he didn't deserve her friendship. He didn't deserve to be happy and play in this wonderful imagination that she had opened for him. He didn't deserve to walk down the hallways at school with her, sit next to her in class or even know her. Here she was though, making his life much better than it ever had been.

He kept watching after her. She gave him a final glance and then turned back around, running on up the path. Jess was finally about to turn back and go home when he noticed someone approaching the girl, and just as she was about to disappear from his sight behind the trees, she stopped. Whoever it was was hooded, quite a bit taller than Leslie, and was carrying an umbrella. They looked as if they were talking to one another, but Jess couldn't hear any voices.

After a few long moments of watching and wondering, Jess could see Leslie start nodding in what could only be excitement. She turned back with the man, his hand firmly gripping her shoulder. Finally, the stranger lifted his head so that Jess could see his face.

It was Mr. Burke, and he was smiling as well as anyone could when facing an extreme downpour.

"Jess!" Bill yelled through the sound of wind and rain. "Come on, Jess! We're going to have some ice cream and hot chocolate!" Leslie was motioning for him to run over to them.

And run he did. Jess didn't know the Burke's very well, aside from Leslie, but he really liked her father. Not long ago, he had spent an entire afternoon with her and her family, painting what Leslie now referred to as the "Gold Room." It had been more fun than Jess could have ever imagined.

When he caught up to them, Bill put his other hand on Jess' shoulder and they all three walked silently up to Leslie's house, shielded from the rain by a solid umbrella.

Once they were in, Jess marveled at the inside of the house. The only other time he had ever been inside, there were a lot of boxes laying around and most of the house had yet to be furnished. Now, just by looking into the Gold Room, Jess could see that the Burke's had most definitely finished their book. They had used the time to decorate the marvelous room. There was a very nice looking leather sofa facing the fireplace, a stand on one side of it sporting some very beautiful flowers. The mantelpiece was set up half a dozen pictures, all of them of Leslie, three on each side of an even large picture that hung brilliantly on the wall above. It displayed all three of the Burke's, Leslie standing, smiling broadly with PT in her arms. Her mother was on her knees, her arm tenderly placed across her daughter's neck. Bill was behind them both, his left hand firmly placed on his wife's shoulder and his right on his daughter's, the smile of a very happy man consuming his face.

"Took that one just a few days ago," Bill announced, coming to stand next to his daughter's friend. "I didn't want Prince Terrian in it, but Leslie insisted. Glad she did, I don't think that it could have turned out better." He smiled at Leslie, who returned in kind.

It took Mr. Burke a few minutes to get the ice cream and hot chocolate ready. Their kitchen still wasn't in the best shape, as they had been trying to furnish and remodel it at the same time. That particular room had taken a back seat to Bill's study, which he wanted done in time for his next great book idea.

While Mr. Burke was wandering through the kitchen, trying to find whatever it was that he needed, Jess sat on the couch with Leslie. She was busily looking through his sketchbook, more concerned than he was about his drawings getting wet. Jess had never considered himself that talented of an artist, so it he had never really grown attached to any of his drawings. Leslie, on the other hand, knew that Jess was something special in the way that he could represent things on paper at his age. When she reached a certain page, one that seemed to be an illustration of a uniquely dressed young girl with dangling blond hair, she snapped it shut. She had never seen that drawing before and felt as if she had somehow violated Jesse's privacy.

She smiled lightly and handed it back to him. Jess took it and ran his hand over the cover, as if to brush off something that wasn't even there. Truthfully, he had just always liked the rough texture on the cover of this sketch book. He liked the feel of it on his hands.

"Ice cream is served," Bill announced as he entered the room, handing off a bowl of vanilla ice cream to each of them, setting his own on the stand next to the couch.

"Either of you touch mine and I'll force feed the rest of it to you faster than you can say "brain freeze," Bill warned cheerfully as he went back into the kitchen.

When he returned, the three of them sat on the couch for nearly two hours. Jess didn't talk much, he just listened to the things Leslie and Bill had to say. The man was an incredible story teller, whether it was factual or fictitious. He shared various tales of their lives in Richmond, before they had come to Lark Creek. Leslie threw bits into the stories on occasion, and made sure to call her dad out whenever he over-exaggerated something that she had done when she was little.

Jess found out quite a few things that he had never known about Leslie. She had only ever ridden a bicycle once in her whole life, because that one time she had wrecked and scraped her knee so badly that she gave it away to the neighbor children. She, by her father's count, had read _The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe _approximately seventy-six and a half times. She had also once asked her father to marry her, because she didn't want to wait until she was older to get married.

"This one time, Jess," Bill started. "Leslie was bout four or five and had just gotten out of the shower and had nothing but a towel on. She was playing with a ball that I had gotten her that day, and it went bouncing out the front door and across the street. She chases it, the towel comes off and she's running butt nake-"

"Dad!" Leslie exclaimed angrily, though she was smiling quite broadly, her cheeks very red.

It was after nine before they finished the melted remains of their ice cream. Bill took their bowls to the sink and returned a few moments later with soda for both of them. They kept talking for a while longer, Jess finally sharing a bit of the conversation. At ten, Bill had an announcement to make.

"It's getting pretty late," he said. "Leslie, why don't you take Jess up to your room and find a place for him to sleep?"

Jesse's eyes went wide. He had never been anywhere except for his own home this late at night, and he hadn't even considered that the Burke's might be inviting him to stay over when they had invited him inside.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jess. I guess I probably should have asked you after I asked Leslie," Bill said, realizing his mistake. Leslie just looked from her father to Jess. "Would you like to sleep over with Leslie tonight?"

Jess had never had good enough friends to have ever been invited to sleep over anywhere, and he was a little shocked. For a moment he was speechless, looking at Leslie who was now looking at him, a hopeful expression prominent in her gaze.

"Sure!" Jess finally replied, noting the smile and relief that spread across Leslie's face. "I just need to call my house and see if it's okay with my parents."

"We'll just go over there," Leslie said, looking to her father for confirmation. Bill just nodded at them. After all, it was only next door.

It didn't take them long to reach Jesse's house. They entered through the back door, coming right up on Jack Aarons, who was sitting at the kitchen table going over some weird looking sheet of paper. He turned around with an agitated expression, looking as if he was ready to rip his son's head off. Then, he seemed to notice Leslie and his expression softened.

"Where have you two been?" Jack asked, his voice quite a bit more inquisitive than angry.

"Leslie's house," Jess answered, not wanting to look at his father in the face. "Here, I found these."

Jess reached into his pocket and pulled out the set of keys that May Belle had snatched from the greenhouse the night before and offered them to Jack. His father looked down at them as if he wasn't sure what they were, and then he took them, looking both a bit peeved and impressed.

"Leslie's dad invited me to stay over at their house tonight," Jess stated, hoping against hope that his dad wasn't angry enough not to permit him to his first sleepover. "Can I?" Jess had to follow up after Jack made no move to reply.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Jack stated calmly. "I don't see why not, so long as you get your chores done as soon as you get home."

Jess almost shouted in excitement and then gave his dad a quick hug. It wasn't returned, but he paid no mind. He and Leslie rushed out the back door and across the way to Leslie's home.

When they got back inside, Bill had already pulled out a heavy comforter and a couple of pillows for Jess. He'd also grabbed a bag of barbecue potato chips, which he sent up the stairs with Leslie. Jess offered to carry up the blanket and pillow, but Bill declined and insisted that he was their guest and that if anyone was going to take care of him for the night, it would be Bill.

Truthfully, Bill was more excited about Jess staying over than Leslie was. He had felt pretty bad when they lived in Richmond. He had always instructed his daughter that it was okay to be different from everyone else and that she should never pretend to be anyone that she wasn't. While all of those things were very true to his beliefs, he couldn't help, but feel that his advice to her had caused her troubles in making friends. Bill had always felt that this was the true test of friendship: spending the night together. If they weren't at each other's throats by the time Jess left, then they were in Lark Creek to stay. Leslie needed that much.

Once Leslie's father had left, Jess was finally able to examine his friend's room. He had never been passed the Gold Room in the Burke's home before, and he had never been curious as to what kind of room Leslie kept until now.

It didn't take much examination to see that the room was much larger than his and May Belle's. The floor was covered in a very nice blue rug. There was a very comfortable looking bed against one of the side walls, and it was very well kept from what Jess could see. There was a rather large dresser against the back wall, parallel with a bookcase. Jess didn't even bother looking at any of the books, as he was sure that he had seen her carrying all of them around school at some time or other.

In fact, the entire room struck him as odd. He had never considered that Leslie would be quite so..._neat_ in the way that she kept her belongings.

"My sanctuary away from our sanctuary," she said plainly. "Want some chips?"

Jess couldn't help but feel just slightly out of place, but Leslie made him feel at home pretty quickly. They sat on her bed for a while, eating the chips that her father had sent up with her, and talked about everything from Janice Avery to the implications of not owning a television.

"You've changed a lot since I first met you, Jess," Leslie said once they had been sitting in silence for a while. She sounded very serious, but very happy at the same time. "You're not at all like that miserable looking boy I saw sitting in Monster Mouth Myers' class on the first day of school."

He wanted to say something right then, but he just couldn't do it. Instead, he just nodded in silent agreement.

A few moments later, a knock sounded at the door and Bill came in. He had a look of defeat about him as he informed the two that they needed to get ready to go to sleep. Once he had left again, Leslie told Jess that her mother always got what she wanted. After that, she went and retrieved two sleeping bags from her closet.

"What do I need two for?" Jess asked.

"Well I'm not letting my guest sleep on the floor alone," she told him, slinging one of the heavy sleeping bags to Jess. "Especially when that guest is a _king_."

When they got it all laid out and finally settled down for a good night's rest, Jess found himself unable to sleep. Something was nagging at his mind, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. At first, it just felt as if he had forgotten something, but it quickly morphed into a nauseating sense of hopelessness and despair. Jess found himself more afraid that he would be sick during his first ever sleepover than anything else. Then, just as suddenly as it all had started, it stopped. He didn't feel sick or scared anymore. He turned his head and looked to Leslie, who was already sleeping soundly.

_I don't have as much time as I need to see everything, but that's what makes it so special._

Leslie's voice filled his mind so clearly that it was as if she had actually spoken. She was still asleep, and her lips hadn't moved one bit. It was the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep, and before they knew it, Saturday was upon them.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Ms. Edmunds was welcomed into the Burke household, both children were still fast asleep. Though neither of them realized it, it had been almost one in the morning before they had finally dozed off. This was fairly late for both of them.

For an hour Mr. Burke kept Ms. Edmunds busy, discussing both children with her. They shared a few laughs every now and then, but when Ms. Edmunds made mention that Jess had really come out of his shell since he had met Leslie, the discussion turned very serious.

"Leslie was very similar to him," Bill explained. "She was always outcast and never really wanted to get involved with anything socially. We moved here for her, really. We thought that if we lived in a smaller community, maybe she'd find some people that weren't so closed minded about her imagination and her views on the world."

"I'm sorry," Ms. Edmunds replied as if she had caused the children of Lark Creek to be spoiled brats. "Lark Creek doesn't really have the most pleasant of children. Kids can be a lot more mean than they realize."

"I couldn't be happier here," Bill stated. "Leslie loves the open fields around here, and I'm going to be honest. Jess Aarons has done more for her than I could have ever hoped for from a battalion of new friends. That boy's very special."

"They're both special," Ms. Edmunds said. "And here comes one of them now!"

A bleary-eyed Leslie had just finished descending the stairs and rounded the corner into the Gold Room. Bill smiled at her. She was still wearing her clothes from the day before, minus the wrist bands and the outrageous cut-off socks that she sometimes pulled up over her elbows.

"Sleep well, honey?" Judy Burke asked as she came into the room from the kitchen. Leslie just grunted. She had never been a morning person.

"Better than some people," Leslie finally said. All three adults in the room gave her a very inquiring look. "Jess didn't sound like he was having the best dream in the world, let's just leave it at that."

"Is he up yet?" Ms. Edmunds asked. Leslie nodded.

"Bathroom."

Just as she said it, Jess came clambering down the stairs wearing a new shirt and a pair of khakis as opposed to the jeans he had donned the previous day.

"Ms. Edmunds!" Jess more stammered than exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Well," she began. "I wanted to see if you and Leslie wanted to go out to the National Art Gallery in DC with me. I was going to take my nephews, but my sister changed her plans last minute, so I thought of you and was curious if you wanted to go?" She had decided on leaving out the fact that she had initially called Jesse's house and that May Belle had told her that Jess was sleeping over with the Burke's. She didn't want to offend Leslie.

_Did you forget something, Jess?_

_Next time, we should ask Leslie to go. She'd like that._

Jess shook the sudden unpleasantness out of his head and looked to Leslie. She seemed impartial toward the notion so he simply asked her outright.

"Do you want to go?" Leslie looked at him, her eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across her face. It seemed almost as if she hadn't expected him to want her to go.

"Sure."

By nine, they were on the road to Washington DC. Jess had wanted to sit in the front with Ms. Edmunds at first, but quickly changed his mind and joined Leslie in the back seat. She seemed quite happy about this.

The museum wasn't terribly exciting for Leslie, but she did have quite a bit of fun just watching Jess marvel at the various paintings on the walls.

"I wonder if Van Gogh started in notebooks like you?" Ms Edmunds asked. "I know DaVinci did."

When they reached a part of the building filled with nothing, but strange gadgets, she started cranking one that caused half a dozen wooden balls to start flying as if they were a ride at an amusement park. Jess watched it in awe, and inevitably put his face too close and got smacked in the nose. He just laughed it off, and both Leslie and Ms. Edmunds laughed with him.

At the end of the day, Ms. Edmunds treated both of them to some food and drink in the museum's cafeteria.

"It's a wonderful day. It's been raining so much this month," Ms. Edmunds started, emptying a sweetener packet into her tea. "I thought it'd turned into that old story where the sun goes into the cave and vows never to come out."

"You know everything," Jess commented.

"Not by a long shot," she corrected. "-but I do try to keep an open mind and you'd be surprised what finds its way in there."

Jess looked to Leslie who was very involved in drinking her soda, but managed to smile back at him.

"That's what Leslie Burke says," Jess said as if the girl weren't even there, looking back to his teacher. He couldn't help but notice Leslie cough some of her drink back into her cup and set it down. "She told me to keep my mind _wide_ open."

"Leslie Burke is right," his teacher responded with a smile, also as if Leslie weren't present. "A mind like yours wide open-" she tilted her head to one side, shaking it lightly. "-you could create a whole new world."

The sun was beginning to set when Ms. Edmunds pulled her Volvo up to the Burke's place. Neither Jess or Leslie had realized just how quickly the day had gone by, and they had both wanted to go to Terabithia during the weekend. They had such little time to spend there during the week those days.

"Well kids, it's been a pleasure." Ms. Edmunds said just after the car came to a full stop.

"Yeah," Jess replied.

"Thanks, Ms. Edmunds. I had a lot of fun," Leslie commented as she unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car. Jess followed and they both stood and waved as they watched their teacher drive away. As soon as she was out of sight, Leslie turned and started running for the dirt road.

"Race you to the rope!"

_They thought you were de..._

_Your friend Leslie's..._

_It's not that kind of rope. It couldn't break – it wouldn't!_

_But it did..._

Jess was more than a little surprised, but he took off after her. "That's not fair!" She had quite a head start on him by now, and in the three months that he had known her, he had never managed to outrun her even once.

When he reached the creek, she was waiting for him, standing up on the log and ready to swing across. She just gave Jess a victorious smirk and kicked off, swinging her legs up high as she went.

What should have taken a few seconds seemed to unfold before Jesse's eyes in slow motion. First, Leslie was swinging across with her back facing him, but by the time the rope had gone halfway across the creek, she had turned around. The whole rope had turned around and the two friend were looking directly into each other's eyes. Leslie's went from confusion to understanding and horror almost instantly, a moment that Jess would remember for the rest of his life as the first time he had seen Leslie Burke's eyes express anything other than cheerfulness and slight annoyance.

After what seemed like minutes to both of them, the rope snapped apart. Leslie didn't even have time to gasp in shock before the top of her head collided solidly with a large rock that was halfway embedded into the ground on the Terabithia side. Her limp form landed on the sloping shore and quickly rolled down into the creek, which still had not recovered from all of the rain.

Jess could only watch in horror as his best friend was carried downstream. He wanted to jump in and pull her out, but he was scared. He was afraid to fail. He knew that if he didn't do something soon, there would be nothing he could do. His father's voice was loud in his ears.

_Your friend Leslie's dead. She drowned in the creek this morning._

_Leslie-dead-girl-friend-rope-broke-fell-you-you-you._

The words popped into his head like corn against the sides of the popper and he started sprinting, outrunning the current of the monstrous creek. It had always seemed so harmless until now, even with the rising water levels. He ran faster and faster, knowing that running was the only way he could keep Leslie from being dead. It was the only way he could keep from hearing those meddling voices that had found their way so easily into his mind, as if they had actually happened.

_God-dead-you-Leslie-dead-you._

In only a couple of seconds that seemed like hours, Jess had caught up with the drifting girl and with only a slight hesitation, jumped in after her. He had never been a good swimmer, but somehow he managed to surface and keep himself above water. He threw his arms in front of himself, kicking his feet at the same pace.

Panic shot through him when he realized that he couldn't see Leslie anymore. She wasn't above water, and the muddy surface was impossible to see through. He dove under, opening his eyes and subjecting them to the stinging haze of the water. She was almost directly in front of him, her limp form beginning to rise back to the surface.

He grabbed hold of her arm, which was drifting lifelessly. He pulled her up much faster than she had been rising and drug her easily to the shore.

He hadn't had time to look at her in the water, but now he wished he hadn't seen her at all. Her eyes were closed, threatening to swallow her sight forever. She seemed very pale, and her beautiful blonde hair was beginning to turn crimson with her own blood.

_Not breathing_.

The thought registered in his mind before he had even thought to check. He couldn't think. His mind was in a complete fog. Why _the hell _had he never learned CPR!? He did what he could anyway. He'd seen enough movies to know the basics, and there was no way that he would be able to carry her back to her house before she...

He went to work, pumping her chest and giving her mouth-to-mouth. Three tries and nothing happened. He began to panic, but he was far from finished. He felt determination shoot through his body, eliminating the panic. He wouldn't let her die, not here. Not so early into her young life and not where the Dark Master could defile her memory.

One more try was all it took, as if he had sent the determination in his attitude into her body and forced her lungs to breath. Before he even realized that it had worked, she vomited a fairly large amount of water into his mouth. He didn't care. He just turned his head to the side and spit it out.

Leslie went into a coughing fit, water coming up each time. After she was finished, she was gasping desperately for air. All Jess could do was watch and hope that she would be okay until she could catch her breath. She was still unconscious, that much he had to be thankful for. He didn't want her to see herself like this.

Once the adrenaline rush had ceased, Jess took notice that the sun was nearly gone and that all that was left to light the way home was a dim blue light. He was absolutely exhausted now, and was considering how he would be able to get Leslie home when he heard his father's voice.

"Jess!?"

At first, he thought it was just another voice inside of his head that he had been hearing since the night before until he realized that the voice sounded further away. Almost as if it were coming from somewhere near the rope.

"Dad!?" Jess called out, his voice cracking harshly. "Dad, help!"

He could hear the heavy running footsteps of his father and he sighed in relief when the hardened hardware store manager came into view. At first, Jess thought his father looked angry, but if he had it was quickly replaced with a look of concern and – when he noticed Leslie – panic.

"God, what happened? Never mind," his father said, taking charge of the situation. "Get over to the Burke's! Tell them to call 911 and tell them what's happened!" Jack lifted the girl in his arms, almost cradling her. Jess didn't want to see her like this anymore, so he turned and ran. Despite his exhaustion, he had reached Leslie's house in only a minute or two.

When he told Bill that Leslie was hurt, the older man didn't even ask what had happened. He yelled for his wife and told her to call 911. Then, he told Jess to lead the way. They both ran, Jess being a little shocked at how fast an aging novelist that did little other than sit in front of a computer typing all day long could run.

They met up with Jack Aarons halfway through the fields, and he immediately handed the unconscious girl over to her father. Bill didn't cry, he just examined her intently. He hair was now matted in blood and, if it was possible, she seemed more pale. Dusk was setting in heavily now though, and Jess couldn't be sure.

Emergency services for Lark Creek were only about two miles down the road, so it didn't surprise anyone when sirens could be heard nearby even as soon as Leslie's mother came jogging up to them. She wasn't nearly as calm and collected as Bill, and she burst into tears as soon as she saw her daughter's limp form in her husband's arms.

It was an awkward couple of minutes before the ambulance arrived. When it did, they loaded the girl into the back. Bill and Judy both clambered in and the back was closed, Leslie leaving Jesse's sight.

A police officer approached Jess soon after. He questioned him, asking him exactly what had lead to Leslie being hurt so badly. Before he recounted the events of the passed fifteen minutes or so, Jess felt his father grip his shoulder. He explained everything in as much detail as he could, and as he spoke he could feel his father's grip get tighter on his shoulder.

When the officer had thanked them and gone, Jack kneeled down in front of his son and looked at him intently.

"Look at me Jess," Jack said in a commanding, yet soft tone. Jess looked up at his father, expecting to see outrage and fury in his eyes. He had been gone all day long without doing his chores, and Leslie had been hurt in the process. Instead, he was met with a look of admiration. "You might have saved that little girl's life tonight. I'm proud of you, son."

- - - - - - - - - -

The next day, Jess and his mother and father went to the hospital in DC to see Leslie. She had been transferred from Lark Creek Intensive to Dawley Park Medical overnight. Bill and Judy were there, sitting in the waiting room. Neither of them looked as if they had gotten much sleep, Judy in particular looking like a train wreck. It didn't stop them from getting up and greeting the family as they approached.

Jesse's parents wasted no time introducing themselves, and it only occurred to Jess right then that they had never properly met.

After only a moment, Bill turned to Jess and pulled him into a tight embrace. Jess returned the hug. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he couldn't cry. He wouldn't let himself look weak in front of everyone. He almost cut loose when he heard Bill say that things weren't looking very good for his daughter.

"Thank you so much for pulling her out of there," Bill said. Jess could tell he had been crying. He didn't sound like Bill Burke anymore. The strong and enigmatic man was gone. "She loves you, you know."

Jess felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water over his head.

"Leslie never had much luck making friends at her old school. She once told me that if it weren't for you..." Bill cut off, unable to say the last few words. After a couple of seconds, he released Jess and looked him in the eyes, his expression solemn. "It's just that you're the best friend she's ever had. I want to thank you for that."

"You're welcome," Jess managed.

These were words he had always hoped to hear. Since he had met her, he had been so insecure in how he stood in her eyes. He dreaded the day when she would find someone more interesting or more imaginative and leave him behind. Now she was in a hospital room fighting for her life. She could die, and he had left so many things unsaid. He had never told her how much she had changed his life. He had never thanked her for delivering him from a pointless existence. He had never told her how often the word "beautiful" found its way into his mind whenever he had to chance to look at her for more than a few seconds.

With all of this flooding through his mind, he ran. He just started running down the hallway and out the door and he didn't stop until h found his way into overgrown part of the hospital's campus and tripped over a large tree root that was sticking out of the ground. After that, he just lay there, his mind spinning.

After a moment, a pair of strong arms grabbed hold of him and cradled him as if he were a baby. He looked into his father's face, and upon seeing the worry and affection there, he let his tears flow down his cheeks. He was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shh," his dad said, rocking him back and forth.

"Is it true, what the Bible says?" Jess managed to say clearly. He sniffed. "Will she go to Hell?"

"I may not know everything about God, but he's not going to send _that_ little girl to Hell," Jack said with incredible certainty in his voice. Jess kept crying.

"Then I'm going to Hell, because it's my fault," Jess blubbered on. "I hesitated. If I had jumped in sooner-"

"Don't you think that, not even for a minute." Jack's tone was firm. "That doesn't make it your fault. It's a terrible thing, and it doesn't make any sense, but..."

All Jess could do was sob. He felt absolutely helpless. Leslie was lying in a hospital bed, possibly dying, and all he could do was cry and wish things were different.

"She brought you something special when she came here, didn't she?" His father asked, his voice becoming a little shaky. "If she doesn't make it, that's what you need to hold on to. That's how you'll keep her alive."

After a few minutes, both of the Aarons' boys managed to collect themselves and went back inside. Jess was allowed to visit with Leslie for just a couple of minutes, and when he saw her, he wished he hadn't accepted the offer.

She was laying there, as pale as she had been when he pulled her out of the creek. There was a fairly thick bandage wrapped around her head, her hair obviously shaved away. She looked as helpless as he felt. All he could do was touch her hand. He found himself thinking back to the night he had stayed with her at her house. She had complimented him, and he hadn't been able to find the words to tell her why she was even able to give him that compliment.

_"You've changed a lot since I first met you, Jess. You're not at all like that miserable looking boy I saw sitting in Monster Mouth Myers' classroom on the first day of school."_

"Thanks to a wonderful friend," Jess said softly, his eyes welling up with tears again. "Thanks to you."


	2. Thomas A Renick

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter 2 - Thomas A. Renick  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and not profit was gained  
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

It was the very first day of school, the tardy bell for second period had sounded off nearly two minutes before, and Jesse Aarons was still wandering the deserted hallways looking for the classroom that he was supposed to be in.

Since the beginning of August, Jess had built up a fear of going back to school. It was the idea of leaving Lark Creek Elementary that was the cause of his distress. He had attended there for nine years, including kindergarten, and it felt particularly strange to take part in a school day that didn't involve walking around in those familiar halls and looking into the smiling faces (and gaping maws that could consume the entire bodies of second graders in the case of Monster Mouth Myers) of the same teachers he had known for so long.

Nothing was at all familiar to him. From what he had seen, many parts of the school were designed to be needlessly complicated. There was a small and discreet set of stairs near the first floor cafeteria that lead up to no less than four intersecting hallways, none of which brought him to the upstairs hallway he was currently stationed in. This one had been reached by use of a large and far more obvious stairway located a few doors down from his own locker, but seemed to pay host to no more than _zero_ actual classes. The three rooms that were up here looked as if they hadn't been used in a decade. Rows and rows of desks were pushed up against each other on the back walls with stacks of chairs inhabiting the corners, and a thick layer of dust inhabiting everything.

Upon finding the bathrooms on this level, Jess hadn't been able to help himself and had gone in to check them over. It didn't come as a surprise to him when he found the Boys' room to be completely empty, apart from small, dusty black pebbles covering the floor that Jess sincerely hoped were not rat droppings. There wasn't even so much as a rusty pipe sticking out of the wall to indicate that there had, at point or other, been a bathroom there.

Expecting the Girls' bathroom to be exactly the same, Jess _was _quite astounded when he walked in to find actual toilet stalls, complete with actual flushing toilets! There was also a light switch above a small sink, to the left of the stalls. The sink didn't work in the slightest, but the light switch did give birth to a very dim haze of light.

The light revealed very little he hadn't already seen, apart from the fact that whatever had dropped the "pebbles" in the Boys' room had at least started to use this room for its own purposes. The trail lead right up to a hole cut directly in the middle of the bottom of a four foot tall door that was padlocked. Not only that, but it had been painted over, the edges of the door fused with the wall by clever use of several coatings of thick, white paint. No one less than a little interested would ever find the need to open it, and especially not if they were exceptionally late for class.

That thought triggered a moment of panic in Jesse's mind as he realized that he was somewhere around seven minutes late for second period now. Kicking himself into gear, he turned and quickly made for the stairs.

The hallway he came into from the second floor was no less deserted, but that was because most everyone was already seated in their classrooms, listening to their second period teachers ramble on about the exact same school rules and policies that had been gone over in both home room and first period. Most of the doors in the hall were closed, blinds pulled down over the windows as a lock down precaution.

The muffled voices of both teachers and students alike could still be heard as Jess walked quickly from door to door. He was about ten minutes tardy for his second class of the day at this point. He glanced above each one, checking for the room number of the class he was supposed to be in. He had almost backtracked all the way back to the first floor cafeteria and was standing near the front entrance to the school when he glanced at the nearest classroom door's number. Almost at once, his eyes went wide in amazement and disbelief: room 312 was sitting innocently right next to room 139, which had been his first period class. Now he was certain that someone had hired a dyslexic architect to design this building.

More than a little flustered, Jess cracked the door open and poked his head inside to find that everyone was looking directly at him. He became a little suspicious that they had all planned this. He did his best to cover his embarrassment and forced his way into the room, swinging his backpack off of his shoulder and look directly at the teacher.

He was probably about six feet tall with dark hair and quite a bit of unshaven fuzz on the underside of his chin. He was wearing nice looking khakis and a collared shirt. He looked to be in his mid twenties After looking at him with shame in his eyes for a couple of seconds, Jesse realized that his teacher was smiling.

"Uh," Jess blurted out. "I got a little lost."

"I'll say. Jess Aarons is it?" The man was still smiling, and he spoke with a friendly and light Australian accent. The main thing that caught his attention however, was that the teacher had called him Jess and not Jesse. He had been ready to correct his teachers all day long in how to address him, and his first period teacher had actually asked if he preferred Jess over Jesse. This was kind of unexpected.

"Yeah." Jess nodded and broke eye contact, glancing around the room at the sea of faces before him. Some of his classmates looked disgusted with him. Others looked as if he could have been a very real dragon walking through the door and they wouldn't have paid him any more attention. Among all of them, though, only one face in the large classroom actually looked amused with his entrance, and there was an open seat next to her. It was the very last seat in the third row, its only occupant being a stack of three rather large books.

"Have a seat, Jess." The teacher looked at him with some interest now. "We need to be on with the class."

Jess obliged without hesitation and quickly approached the open desk as the girl next to it hurriedly picked up the books and pushed them under her own seat in a very disorganized fashion. Just before he reached his target however, someone had zipped passed him and plopped themselves down.

Scott Hoager look up at him at first with a very satisfied grin, but quickly shifted it to a sad puppy dog face and built up a host of fake tears in his eyes in a mock pout. Jess could only glare at him with more intensity than he had actually realized. Never having been very intimidating, it didn't really have any profound effect.

"What's the matter, Aarons?" Scott asked in a very snide and sarcastic tone. "Aren't you able to sit with your girlfriend?" Most of the class, including the majority of the emotionless drones from the gray pit of television static, burst into a fit of raging laughter. Jesse could feel his cheeks reddening in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Scott," the teacher said a moment later, his unusual accent bringing the room to a gradual silence. "If you prefer that I didn't bring this incident to my sister's – _your _mother's – attention, I suggest you go back to the seat you had chosen at the start of class."

"This is the seat I wanted!" Scott whined in obvious defiance. "The cave girl threw her books in the seat and wouldn't let anyone sit here!"

"Suit yourself, Scott." Scott's uncle shrugged and turned his back on the situation, calmly writing something on the blackboard. The annoyingly persistent boy continued to glare up at Jess for another few seconds before his gaze shifted to his uncle's back, and then back to Jesse. Finally, sighed in defeat and moved to his own desk, continuing to keep his eyes fixed on Jess as if year after year of receiving that look left any real meaning behind it.

Jess took his seat and looked immediately up at the blackboard. The teacher was still writing something, and his hand writing was quite good for a male teacher. Mr. Neilson, his first period teacher, could have drawn squiggle lines in chalk and any one of his students would probably think it was supposed to have been the letter A.

After only a second or two more, Scott's uncle finally turned back toward the class and stepped away from the chalk board, revealing what he had just written.

_Thomas A. Renick_

_Social Psychology - 1st trimester_

"But you all can call me Mr. Renick," Scott's uncle said cheerfully. "Actually, you can just call me Renick if you prefer. I'm not one that likes to be called _mister_."

Jesse was beginning to get the distinct impression that he liked Mr. Renick. He had a sort of outgoing charm that most teachers that he had had in the past sorely lacked. The girl next to him thought so too, judging by the smile across her lips and the profound look of admiration in her eyes as she looked at the man. Seeing this changed Jesse's thoughts toward his teacher immediately from silent admiration of his attitude to unspoken jealousy of his charm and good looks.

"In this class, we will be learning about social interaction and the effects that it has on the mind, as well as the effects that the mind has on social interaction." Renick continued on happily with his introduction to the class.

"Before we go any further however, I should maybe speak a little about myself, and in return I should expect to hear something about each of you." Renick was pacing back a forth between the the edge of his desk and the wall of the room now. "My name is Tom Renick and this is my first official year teaching both at Lark Creek High and anywhere else for that matter. I graduated from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio this passed spring and I'm already hard at work on getting my Master's in education. I'm really interested in the human mind and social interaction. I like to read, which I can prove by saying that I've read all one-hundred and ninety-six Dragonlance novels."

Jess felt more than a little twinge of jealousy as he stole a glance at the book on top of the stack under the desk next to his. _Dragonlance: Covenant of the Forge_. He couldn't help putting his head down in disbelief.

"Now I want each of you to tell me about yourselves. Not a whole lot if you don't want to, but something." Renick finally stopped pacing and went to his desk to check his name list for second period. He ran his finger down the rather long list of names and stopped on one.

"Leslie Burke?"

Jesse immediately forced his head up and looked at Leslie in yet another notion of disbelief. She stood quickly and pushed her blond hair behind her ears and then brushed a few strands out of her eyes while still smiling. Jesse felt that he should have known that it was too good to be true that any relative of Scott Hoager's could steer clear of Bad Apple Boulevard. What exactly was it that this guy was playing at?

"I'm Leslie Burke-"

"-of the dynamic rope swinging duo," Scott Hoager spoke aloud. "Expert in bouncing her head off of rocks. Champion at quick current diving." A few people around Scott giggled slightly, but the joke was in bad taste. Had he been sitting close enough, Jesse probably wouldn't have hesitated to fixate a relatively well-aimed punch on the rat-faced teenager's rat face.

"Scott Hoager," Renick said, his voice still very pleasant and calm. "Since you and I know each other fairly well and we probably won't be doing much this period besides introducing ourselves, why don't you go and sit with Principle Richards for the remainder of the class?"

Scott stopped laughing immediately and averted his eyes to his pencil, which he was playing with like he normally did when someone called him out for doing something particularly insensitive and stupid. Leslie still stood next to her desk, unsure of what to do.

"I'm from-"

_"Today_, Mr. Hoager!" Renick finally sounded a little irritated. "If Leslie has to be interrupted one more time on your account then I'll push for permanent removal from the class."

Scott's facial expression went from one of shock to one of complete ferocity. He glared at his uncle with absolute disgust in his eyes, stood from his desk, snatched up his books and stormed out of the room, making a point to slam the classroom door as hard as he could.

"I apologize, Leslie," Renick said, his voice sounding as if nothing had even happened. He even strapped his smile back onto his face, Jess noted. "Please continue!"

"Thanks," Leslie said, putting a smile on herself. "I'm Leslie Burke. I grew up in Richmond and moved to Lark Creek when I was eleven years old. I like to read books and write stories. My best friend is definitely Jess Aarons." If it was even possible, Leslie's voice perked up quite a bit when she mentioned Jesse's name.

"Thank you, Leslie," Renick said, smiling. Leslie smiled and sat down, averting her eyes to the Five Star trapper keeper on her desk, and then to Jess. "Perfect segue way, actually. Jess Aarons!"

Jess stood on pure reflex before his mind had even registered that he had been called on. He looked at the teacher for a moment before it even dawned on him that he was supposed to say something.

"I'm Jesse Aarons. Most people call me Jess," he stammered. He had always hated speaking in front of a class, and now even more so since he hadn't even seen half of the people in the room before. "I like to draw and I can run pretty fast. T-that's all, really."

Renick nodded and Jess took his seat. He look down at his desk for a moment, something he typically did for a long while after having to speak in front of a class full of his peers, and then noticed Leslie looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He looked directly at her as the next student, Eric Hatcher stood and started talking about himself. He smiled at her, but she only half smiled at him, and then started to study her Five Star with profound interest. Jesse could tell that something was wrong, that there was something in her expression. Disappointment.

After another thirty-five minutes of listenting to various other teenagers talk about themselves, the bell rang and everyone started flooding into the hallway, all of them leaving their books behind except for Jess. He was just about to walk out the door with them when Leslie grabbed his arm.

"We're block scheduled here," she said with some amusement. "This is a two hour class."

Jesse, frustrated and confused, pulled his arm away from her and walked over to his desk, harshly placing the books down and slinging his backpack over the back of his chair. Leslie watched him from the doorway, and they both went out into the hall to enjoy the four minute break before they had to be back in the classroom.

"Did I say something wrong in my introduction?" Jess asked her as soon as they were able to find a place in the hallway that was engulfed in the chaos of people changing classes. He didn't need Leslie angry with him now.

"More like something you didn't say," Leslie said, smirking. "It wouldn't hurt you to acknowledge me as your friend in public, you know."

"Who needs reminding that you're my best friend?" Jesse asked with an incredulous look about his face.

"Well I did," Leslie said with a matter-of-factly smile on her face. He had always liked it when she smiled without opening her mouth. The way her cheeks puffed out when she did it was absolutely adorable. "You need to let me know where I stand sometimes. Lots of new kids in there now that you might decide are way more interesting than I am."

"Yeah," Jess agreed in a very serious tone, though there was definitely some sarcasm there. "I'm sure me and Dennis Patrick would get along great. I know loads that could be used helping him and his dad fix cars at the mechanic shop." Leslie laughed out loud, attracting a dirty look from Gary Fulcher who was engaged in what was surely a riveting conversation with "Fat" John Zileem.

"So are we going to go _there_ today?" Leslie asked as they both walked back into the Psychology classroom.

Jess didn't answer her. Instead, he walked over to Renick's desk and waited for him to acknowledge this he was there. Leslie was still standing few feet behind him, watching with a curious expression in her face. After a moment, Mr. Renick looked up at him.

"Mr. Renick," Jess said as loud as he could without yelling. "Leslie Burke is my best friend."

Jess looked over his shoulder at Leslie. She was beaming at him.

At lunch, Jess and Leslie found a vacant table near the back windows to sit at. Both had packed their lunch, mostly because Brenda had warned them both about the high school's food. According to her, all of the food could be thrown at the wall and it would, nine times out of ten, stick. The two of them didn't appear to be the only ones to have heard this. They both watched in amusement as Scott Hoager swiped one of Gary Fulcher's chicken fingers and chucked it at the wall nearest them. Sure enough, it stuck. And it stuck well.

Jesse's lunch consisted of a tuna sandwich and a small bag of carrot sticks. Leslie had two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a banana and a small container with a few pieces of fresh pineapple inside. She took one look at Jesse's lunch and gave him one of her sandwiches and her banana, claiming that she wasn't very hungry. She even offered him a few pieces of her pineapple, one of which he greatfully accepted.

After lunch they had to go their separate ways. Jess had to search for his Geometry class for fourth period, and Leslie had some sort of Family Relationships class that she had signed up for the previous year. Jesse couldn't help but silently wonder why a girl with such a wonderful and caring family would need to take a Family Relationships class.

When fifth period rolled around, they found that they were in the same Study Hall together in the cafeteria. Renick was their Study Hall Attendent and when he saw the two of them he smiled . Leslie waved back to him. He then went over his list and immediately began talking fairly loud.

"Okay, listen up everyone," Renick said, grabbing everyone's attention. "This is study hall. This is time given to you by the school to do research, to study, or to get caught up on your homework. If you don't have any of those things to do then make sure you have something to keep you busy or just put your head down and take a nap. This is not social time."

Jess had to admit to himself that he was really liking the sound of this study hall thing.

"Since you probably won't have a lot of work to do this week, I don't mind if you talk quietly to one another, but make sure you keep it quiet, because I'm not technically aloud to make that call." Renick was definitely beginning to earn Jesse's respect. "Next week, I won't allow any talking unless you need to study or work on a project with someone. I don't mind if you write notes to each other as long as you keep them clean and keep them off the floor."

One look at Leslie told Jess than she was definitely excited about this particular class. Jess had almost considered raising his hand and asking if there was a catch to this whole "free time" thing. At about that time, both of them noticed that Renick was smirking toward them.

"This is a fairly small group, so I'm going to seat one boy and one girl at each table alphabetically." Renick set all of his things down on his own table and then walked to the other side of it with his student list. He nodded as he first looked at it, and then seemed slightly troubles as he looked a bit further down the list. After a moment though, he seemed to figure out his internal strife. At his own table, he touched the chair across from the one he had designated as his own. "Jackelyn Brooke, you're with me."

A girl with black hair came out from behind a few of the taller boys waiting to be seated and took her seat. Leslie noticed that she seemed more than a little giddy given the notion of sitting across from the new, young and eccentric teacher with the accent.

The cafeteria was set up with five rows of about eight or nine tables each. Renick walked quickly to the first table in the very back row, and Jess could have sworn he had seen him smile before he spoke.

"Jess Aarons," he said, his hand on one chair. He then made his way to the other side of the same table and touched the chair there. "Leslie Burke."

They looked at each other and Leslie shot him another one of her smiles that he adored so much, then they went and took their seats. Renick started back toward the first row to start seating everyone else, giving Jess little smirk and a pat on the back as he passed him.

They spent most of what was left of fifth period talking about their first and fourth period classes, which were the only two they didn't have together. Jess described Geometry simply by pulling his text book out of his backpack and describing, in utmost detail, how Mrs. Ballard had assigned them no less than seventy-five math problems for homework. He complained for a good three or four minutes before Leslie pointed out to him that he was on the wrong page and that the seventy-five problems on the correct page were sixth grade level multiplication and division problems, with a bit of eight grade algebra thrown in. To save face, Jess didn't stop complaining until he finished his work, but lucky for Leslie it only took him about seven or eight minutes.

When it was time for sixth period, they found that their classes (Jess had Applied Economics and Leslie finally had to deal with Geometry, albeit with a different teacher than Jesse) were right next to one another, and were also right across the hall from Jesse's locker.

For the next hour, Jess wondered whether or not sleeping in study hall would ever keep him from falling asleep in Applied Economics. Mr. Plumley's voice was so monotonous that Jess wasn't exactly sure how Mr. Plumley was even keeping himself awake! Jess kept himself entertained by watching a fly buzz around the room. Occasionally it would land on the teacher's bald spot, which Jesse found to be highly amusing in a state of pure boredom.

Once sixth period was over, it was time to head home. Jess was at his locker when Leslie came out of her Geometry class, holding a piece of paper with the locker combination written down on it in one hand and fiddling with the built in combination lock in the other. Leslie watched in amusement for a moment, and then snatched both from him and opened it up on the first try. He gave Leslie the privilege of receiving his final disbelieving glance of the day and started pulling his books out of his backpack, stacking them on the very top shelf on the locker.

"Can I put my books in your locker?" Leslie asked him. Jess gave her a confused look, and then remembered that he had forgotten to tell her.

"Leslie, everyone has to have a locker partner," Jesse said to her. "When I got my locker assigned this morning, I put you down as mine. I hope that's okay."

Leslie smiled up at him as she was pulling a book out of her own bag. Then, something happened. One moment she was looking up at him happily, and the next she was lurching forward, the top of her head harshly smacking into the thin edge of the locker door. She feel to her knees after that, both hands covering the top of her head and shaking rapidly. He could tell she was sobbing.

Jess turned around quickly and grabbed hold of Dennis Patrick's shirt collar, pushing him roughly across the hallway and slamming him into another set of lockers. He was absolutely furious.

"Come on, man," Dennis said, almost pleaded. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I was just messing around."

"Isn't it funny how often your idea of messing around and people getting hurt seem to coincide with each other?" Jesse asked in a raised voice. More than a few people had noticed the commotion now. Jesse simply shrugged off the voice of Mr. Renick, which he could hear telling people to move aside further down the hallway.

"Let me go, man," Dennis continued to plead. Jess noted that his voice was shaking. "I didn't mean any real harm!"

"Come on, Jess," Renick's voice said from behind him. He felt a hand place gently on his shoulder. It was enough to make Jess let go and back away from the obviously frightened kid.

Jess could feel tears welling up in his own eyes, and all of the strength he tried to muster up wasn't enough. He turned away from Renick to look at Leslie. She was still on her knees, shaking and sobbing quietly.

"Let me check on her before you take me to the principle's office," Jess said in a plea of his own. Renick did nothing to stop him from kneeling down and placing both of his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him as best she could without removing her hands from the top of her head. Her face was red and she tried to smile.

"I'll be okay in a minute," she said shakily.

"Does it hurt that bad?" Jess asked her softly.

"Small price to pay to still be here," Leslie replied in between sobs, managing a small chuckle.

"Just the Patrick boy. The only thing Jess is guilty of is defending his best friend," Renick said to someone from behind him. "Jess, a word?"

"I'll be right back, Leslie," he said, rubbing her back in a circular motion with his hand. She nodded as best she could and he turned to speak with his new teacher.

"What's wrong with her?" Renick asked once they were a little further down the hall.

"A few years ago she had an accident," Jesse answered, trying to control his own tears. It was the first time he had actually spoken about it with anyone except Leslie since it had happened.

"The rope swing?" Renick asked in an amazed tone of voice. "It's still affecting her like this?"

Jess almost asked how Renick had known, but recalled how publicized Leslie's accident had been despite her parents' efforts. The media had been all over the story of the young daughter of two moderately famous authors nearly drowning after busting her head open rope swinging. The story had gotten out across most of the country and had been heavily televised. The truth was that Leslie had been only about three hours from getting her life support turned off when she had finally been brought into a stable enough condition for saving her to even become an option. She had suffered massive brain trauma, which luckily hadn't effected her once she was better.

Jess had gone into a major downward spiral when he had thought that his best friend would die. Depression swept over him like no emotion ever had in his life. Even still, just thinking of that very hard time in his life caused Jess to become almost unresponsive in most cases. In most cases, except for when Leslie needed him.

"The top of her head is very sensetive," Jess explained. "As bad as that could have hurt me or you, it's five times worse for her. Plus, just about every time this happens she gets a really bad migraine. Her brain easily enflames."

Renick looked lost in thought for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "When she's ready, I'll take you both home. You've missed your bus."

Jesse finished putting all of things that Leslie didn't plan to take home into their locker and grabbed both his and her backpacks. After about ten minutes, Leslie felt better enough to be moved, but she had to keep her eyes closed the entire way home. The sun was far too bright for her migraine to handle.

Once they reached dirt road where the school bus normally dropped them off, Renick told Jess to stay put and escorted Leslie to her house. He explained what had happened and assured them that the proper disciplinary actions would be taken against Dennis Patrick. When he returned to the car, he asked Jess to come out for another word.

"Jess," Renick began. "You keep her as close as you can, and never let go. Do you understand?" Jesse had the sudden and distinct feeling that he was talking to Leslie's father.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, confused.

"A friendship like yours is rare, Jess," Renick began, "You've managed to transcend so many barriers. You accepted her when no one else did and she did the same for you. Your upbringings were so very different. You've saved her life in more ways than one, Jess. You probably mean more to her than she means to you. Take it from someone who accidentally let go once, and has regretted it ever since. Cherish what you have. You'll never find a friend that means as much to you."

Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but decided against it and simply nodded. Renick nodded as well and slid his sunglasses on. As his teacher drove away, Jesse tried to think of a piece of advice that held a candle to the one he had just received.


	3. The Burke Family Reunion

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter 3 - The Burke Family Reunion  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

Just three days after the school year had started, the students at Lark Creek High were anxiously awaiting Labor Day weekend, which was still a week away. Scott Hoager and John Zeleem were already making outrageous claims that they were going to be skydiving for all three days. Jess was more inclined to believe that the two would be gunning down aliens in some video game, a belief that Mr. Renick later confirmed once he had gotten sick of hearing about it.

Leslie hadn't returned to school until two days after her incident with Dennis Patrick. During that time, Jess had spent quite a few afternoons alone. Ever since the accident, Bill and Judy Burke had been quite a bit more protective of her than they had been before. Jess was normally the exception to this rule. Sometimes they made Jess feel as if he had saved their lives as opposed to their daughter's. It wasn't a feeling Jess enjoyed. If there was one thing Jess had never wanted to be, it was a celebrity, even to the parents of his best friend. It was mostly that reason that Jess hadn't gone to check in on her during those two days. There was no doubt in his mind that Renick had shared Jesse's role in defending her with the Burke's, and he didn't need people fussing over him.

When she finally did come back to school, it was Friday and the final day that actual talking was allowed in their fifth period study hall class. Leslie had quite a bit of work to catch up on, so there wasn't much time for conversation. Jess eventually resorted to falling asleep about a half an hour into the period, only to wake up fifteen minutes later to see Leslie, head resting on her folded arms, looking back at him thoughtfully. When she realized that he was awake she, sat up straight and did her best to hide her embarrassment by pointing out that Jess had drooled all over the sleeve of his sweat shirt. It worked, and when the bell sounded, they walked to the sixth period together. Leslie seemed a little nervous about going into her Geometry class, and Jess suspected that she hadn't finished her homework in study hall.

In Applied Economics, Jess found that sleeping in study hall was a very, very bad idea. He was bored out of his mind, but he wasn't tired and was suddenly certain that being busy fighting off sleep was what had allowed him to get through the class over the past three days without wanting to gouge out his eyes with one of his colored pencils. The fly, that wonderfully entertaining fly, had long since been killed or simply vacated the room. Mr. Plumley was as dry spoken as ever, and more than a few of his students were curious as to whether or not his lectures were available in pill form. More than a few sleepless nights could easily be avoided with that product in every medicine cabinet across the country.

"Did you know that Mr. Finley has you make up class time after school?" Leslie asked him in a mock-curious tone when they met at their locker an hour later. She looked as if she had just come out of military boot camp and Jess wasn't about to interrupt her venting. "Apparently, he doesn't think a student should even have the right to stay home sick or injured. That's not even an assumption, he just told me that himself."

"Just go home and bring your parents into it," Jess suggested. "I don't think what he's having you do is part of the school rule set. Not for missing only two days, anyway." Leslie looked at him as if he had just suggested that she go on a date with Scott Hoager.

"You know how my mom is, Jess," Leslie said to him, annoyed. "I don't need her anymore stressed out than she is, planning the reunion and all. Anyway, I guess I'll just stay. He said I could stay an hour tonight and an hour on Monday."

"I'll just stay with you then," Jess told her.

"Really?" Leslie's eyes lit up as she spoke. The prospect of walking the three miles between Lark Creek High and the area where their houses were located didn't seem quite as bleak as it had seconds earlier.

"Yeah," Jess said. "I'll just go to the office and let my mom know that I won't be home on the bus. You go ahead and start 'serving your time.'"

Leslie groaned and made a big dramatic event out of turning around and walking into the classroom she had just retreated from minutes earlier. Jess smiled and shook his head, heading off to call his parents.

Mr. Finley definitely won the drill-sergeant teacher of the year award, explaining Jesse's initial assessment of her attitude when she had first stepped out of his classroom that day. When Jess had arrived and explained that he was waiting on Leslie, he had made it very clear that he wouldn't be allowed to wait in the classroom. Jess got the distinct impression that Mr. Finley would probably give Leslie a lecture once he was out of the room, so he didn't stick around. He didn't want her in any more trouble on his account.

For the next half hour, Jess could be found sitting in the lobby of the counselor's office, staring blankly at the clock on the wall and occasionally glancing at the door to the principle's office whenever someone would enter or exit the room through it. It wasn't until the form of Mr. Renick popped into the room that Jess was relieved from his stupor.

"Not in trouble, are we Jess?" Renick asked as he approached him.

"I'm just waiting on my friend," Jess told his teacher. "Her teacher seems to have hostility toward kids that miss school."

"Finley?" Renick correctly guessed who he was referring to. "That guy's hostile toward anything that isn't assigned a firearm and a barracks number when they come out of the womb." Jess smiled.

"Why don't you come down to my classroom and we can talk for a bit," Renick suggested. Jess thought about it for a moment, or tried to appear that he had to think about it, and then followed the man down a little ways down the hall and into the classroom that he had just left two hours before.

Jess took a seat near the front and lay his books down at his feet. Renick moved slowly toward his own desk and sat down as Jess pulled the requirement sheet for an essay he had been given to write for Current Events over the weekend. He was less than thrilled about doing it.

"So how is Leslie?" Renick asked him after a couple of minutes. "Her parents seemed to think it was bad enough to keep her home for a couple days."

"I tried not to talk about it," Jess confessed. "She seems fine, though."

Renick nodded, his expression thoughtful. "You make sure to ask her if anything is wrong. Weaker people than her can act happy when things are bothering them."

Jess found himself wondering why Renick seemed so interested in him and Leslie. He had defended them in class, called on them to introduce themselves first, allowed them to sit together in study hall, and even given Jess a fair share of advice. Had was actually going to voice his thoughts, but decided against it.

After another twenty minutes of drawn out silences and occasional bursts of conversation, Leslie appeared in the room. She looked a little agitated, but smiled when she saw Jess and Renick sharing their insights on locking school bullies in broom closets as punishment. They both said goodbye to their Psychology teacher and started walking home.

Leslie confirmed Jesse's suspicions when she explained to him how Mr. Finley had given her a short lecture about knowing when to keep your friends around and when to send them on. She then told him that he hadn't even made her do any work. It was basically just an after school study hall, or as Leslie put it, "making up class by not learning something she hadn't learned."

When they finally reached the old dirt road separating their houses, they parted. Jess only had time to get his chores done and do his homework before he was exhausted. Though he normally put off writing essays until the night before they were due, Jess went ahead and did that as well. It was nearly one in the morning before he crawled into bed, almost instantly falling asleep.

The next morning, Jess woke up considerably later than he usually did. He came downstairs to find his family already engaged in eating breakfast, minus Brenda and Ellie who had gone to visit their friend in Richmond for the weekend. In fact, there was someone in Brenda's normal seat that Jess couldn't quite make out, though he was sure that whoever it was wasn't eating. His vision was still a little off.

"There he is," Jess heard his father say. "I was wondering when you were gonna get up. I was about to send the girl up to wake you."

Jess looked at his father with some confusion and then rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands for a few seconds. When he looked back to the table, his gaze was met with two amused smirks, one coming from his father and the other coming from the blond next to him.

"I've only been here for about an hour," Leslie said cheerfully. Jess could tell that she was serious. He knew by now what sarcasm sounded like in her voice.

"That's your fault," Jess said a little irritably. "What are you doing over here so early?"

"She helped your mom make breakfast," Jack mused, keeping his eyes fixed on his son. Jess looked to his mother for confirmation, which he promptly received in the form of a small smile. "What do you think, am I safe eating it?"

"It looks like your doing fine to me," Jess commented as he watched his father take another bite of his scrambled eggs.

"It's not the eggs I'm worried about," Jack said, with unmistakable sarcasm. Leslie was in hysterics by this point. "It's the sausage. She was acting weird when she was frying it. And the orange juice she poured for me looks a little-"

"She did fine, honey," Mary interrupted. Jess wasn't sure if she was referring to him or his father as 'honey.' "She'll be quite the chef one day."

Jess noticed that a place was set for him next to Leslie, May Belle's normal seat. May Belle was seated across from it. He walked over and sat down, looking at the empty plate.

"Hey mom, can I get some eggs and sausage?" Jess asked. He could hear his mother moving for the stove.

"Oh, let me!"

Leslie took of for the stove before Jess had even realized she had spoken. She returned a moment later with the frying pan, a spoon and three pieces of sausage wrapped in a paper towel. As she lay the sausage down and started spooning the eggs onto his plate, Jess glanced at his father. Jack was watching, his lips curled into a goofy smile that would definitely take some getting used to if it became an every day occurrence. Leslie sat down and Jess had almost started eating when an idea flew through his mind just as it had his father's.

"Does it taste all right, dad?" Jess asked, trying to sound as serious as he could.

"Once you get passed the first bite, you're good," Jack replied, trying just as hard to sound serious. As intimidating as his voice could be, it wasn't that difficult of a feat.

Leslie laughed and playfully punched Jess on the shoulder, though it was enough to make him almost spill the contents of the orange juice carton all over the table.

"So how's school been treating you two?" Jack asked. Jess thought that he had been referring to him and May Bell until Leslie spoke up.

"As good as school can, I suppose," she said. "Jess and I have two classes together, but one of them is a block class, so it's two periods long."

"What class is that?"

"Social Psychology," Jess answered. "Our teacher's great. His name's Mr. Renick, but everyone just calls him Renick." Jesse's father had stopped eating and looked at Jess, puzzled.

"Tom Renick?" Jack asked. When they both nodded, his expression changed to curiosity. "Well I'll be damned. Back after all these years."

"What is it, dad?" Jess asked in between bites.

"The Renicks used to live in the Burke's house," his father revealed. "They rented before the Perkins' sold. Their son Tom used to help me with some of the chores around here when you were a baby. I think he even held you once."

Jess was rather wide eyed at this revelation. He hadn't known much about the Burke house before Leslie had moved in there, but was suddenly sure that he had heard his father refer to it as the 'Renick house' on more than a few occasions during his childhood.

Once breakfast was over, Leslie demanded that Jess go to her house. Apparently there was something important that her parents wanted to ask him, and they wanted to do it themselves. When they met with her father, Jess was surprised to find that the Burke's wanted him to be present at their family reunion. There were many relatives to Leslie that had been unable to make it to Virginia when Leslie had her accident. It came as no shock to Jess that nearly everyone in the Burke family was very fond of Leslie, and that all of them would want to meet the young man that had saved her life.

Jess agreed, though he noted that the request was rather last minute. The reunion was to be held the very next day. Jess hadn't forgotten due to the fact that he hadn't been looking forward to missing out on his and Leslie's normal day of hanging out together before the school week started.

When Sunday rolled around, Jess found himself awake just a little before sunrise. He showered quickly and went downstairs to join his father in a bowl of cereal. Jack had been forced to skip church every other week so that he could manage the store starting earlier in the morning. While Jess could tell it didn't sit well with the strong, yet faithful man, Jess knew that those few hours were taking a little financial stress off of the family and helping him sleep at night.

After breakfast, Jess informed his dad that he would likely be at the Burke's for the better part of the day and that he would be home in time to get his chores done before bed. The man just grunted his approval and Jess headed for the Burke's.

The sun had just started creeping over the horizon, but Leslie's father was already sitting on the front porch. He hadn't been asked to come help get things ready, but Bill seemed very happy to see him. The two of them started pulling picnic tables out of the back of a large truck parked in the Burke's back yard. They even put up something that resembled a stage, which Jess secretly hoped had nothing to do with him.

At around eight thirty, Mrs. Burke found her way out into the back yard with a pitcher of iced tea, which she served to the hard working 'boys'. She made sure to announce to Jess that she and Leslie had been up until almost three in the morning preparing food for the occasion and that she had just woken up and was getting ready.

At nine, a few people showed up early to help set things up. They looked at Jess curiously as they entered the back yard, but were quickly swept away by Mr. Burke to help finish with the preparations before the morning was done. Jess noticed that the woman slightly resembled Mr. Burke and assumed that she was his sister. With her was a man that had to be her husband and a young girl about a year younger than Jess that kept flashing him odd glances.

The girl was much different from Leslie in a way that Jess couldn't quite figure. She kept her brown hair long, nearly midway down her back, and she wore dangling earrings along with make up. Upon studying her, Jess could only think that he preferred Leslie's shoulder-length haircut and the way her golden locks dangled about. He found himself wondering if the two cousins were at all close.

At ten o' clock, Mr. Burke announced that they were done setting up for the party, and both he and Jess collapsed onto the nearest picnic table. Both of them were exhausted already, and the party had yet to even begin.

Mrs. Burke brought them more tea a few minutes later, just as a few vehicles pulled up out front and more than a dozen Burke's made their way into the back yard.

"Here we go," Bill said to Jess, quietly. "Jess, just be yourself and don't let anyone make too much of a fuss over you."

Jess joined Mr. Burke in greeting everyone. They had all formed a line, including Mr. Burke's sister and her family who hadn't been formally introduced to Jess yet. Just by looking at them, Jess got the impression that this was a very well mannered family. All of them mingled in the line, none of them seeming to believe themselves better than anyone else. Everyone was dressed quite casually and all of them looked comfortable around everyone else.

One by one, they approached Mr. Burke and introduced themselves, even if they knew very well who the other person was. Every one of them was introduced to "Leslie's friend, Jesse Aarons," and that was all any of them needed to hear to quickly go to Jess, smile and thank him sincerely for an unspoken deed. It wasn't until Mr. Burke's sister approached that the incident was actually mentioned. Her name was Kendra, and her husband was Francis. They didn't introduce their daughter to him, seeing fit to let her do it herself.

"Thank you so much for saving my niece," Kendra said, smiling. Her voice was shaking. "We're all so very fond of her. You don't know how much it means to us."

With that, she gave Jess a final, gracious glance and lead her husband away, who gave Jess a firm nod. Then, it was their daughter's turn.

"I'm Alicia," she told him, walking right passed Mr. Burke to get to him. She gazed at him in silent admiration for a long, awkward moment and then, out of nowhere, she threw her arms around Jess and started crying, burying her face in his neck. For a moment, Jess wasn't sure what to do, but cautiously returned the embrace.

He had a hard time telling whether or not she was being sincere. It seemed to him that the tears were forced, but the line of Burke's had stopped chatting. All of them had fixed their eyes on the two of them. Jess wasn't sure if they were touched or just plain surprised by the event, but Bill's thanking glance told him that his family was in awe. After another second or two, Alicia planted a quick kiss on his cheek and stood straight to face him. Jess could feel his face turning red.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, dramatically. "Thank you so much for rescuing my little cousin." The line of Burke's started clapping. With that, she was gone.

It took another ten minutes or so to get Jess properly introduced to everyone. A few people had passed him over before Alicia's stunt, but now every one of them made it a point to at least shake the teenage boy's hand while smiling and muttering words of thanks. By the time they were done, Jess felt as he normally did after an entire day of helping his dad clean out the greenhouse and plant new vegetables. The heat induced headache didn't help much, either.

When the time came to take their seats, Jess had been prepared to sit with one of Leslie's great aunts. Bill stopped him and lead him over to a table near the front. On top if it lay a large, laminated card that read _William, Judith and Leslie Burke_. Below their names, someone had written _Jesse Aarons_ in black marker. It was Leslie's hand writing.

After about an hour of chatting with various members of Bill's extended family, Jess couldn't help but feel a little out of place. Everyone was very polite, but none of them were really his family. He thought back to the one and only Aarons family reunion that he had gone to with his dad seven years before. That particular even had ended with Jack Aarons giving his own uncle a black eye. It had been humiliating, and thinking back to it made him realize just how different his family was from the Burke's.

After what seemed like eternity, Jess spotted Mrs. Burke coming out of the sliding back door of the house with two dishes and he ran up to meet her. She seemed rather surprised by his sudden approach, but accepted his offer when he asked if she needed help. He carried one of the dishes over to one of the banquet tables and sat it down.

"Leslie's going to be carrying a lot more out here in a minute," Mrs. Burke told him. "If you want, you could go inside and give her a hand. She seems a little distressed, though."

Jess obliged. He'd been at her house for over five hours and hadn't even caught a glimpse of her yet. After all of the attention he had received at the start of the party, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to be seen with her by all of these people. He could just imagine how many people would come up and request to get a picture of them together.

"Hey," Jess said quietly as he spotted her in the kitchen. She was standing a few feet from the counter that all of the food was sitting on, looking as if she was lost in some rather unpleasant thoughts. "Your mom said that you might need some help."

Leslie snapped herself out of her trance. "No, it's okay," she said. "I can get it. You go and enjoy the party."

She averted her eyes from him on purpose, and then walked over to a large cook pot sitting on the counter. Jess followed her.

"Let me get that," he said, reaching for it."

"I've got it, Jess!" Leslie had never shouted at him before, at least hadn't shouted in reference to him, which was something that Jess hadn't noticed until now. For some reason, it hurt more than any of the times that his dad had shouted at him.

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, Leslie immediately regretting her actions the second a look of pain and horror shot through her best friend's eyes. She knew that she wasn't angry at Jess. She was angry at herself. Earlier, when she had walked outside to find him, he had been engaged in a rather lengthy embrace with her cousin Alicia. It had made her incredibly uncomfortable, and she realized at that moment that, for some awkward reason or another, she didn't even like the _thought _of Jess hugging someone that wasn't her. Still being somewhat blind to her own emotions, Leslie didn't understand why it bothered her. All she knew was that she had seen her best friend hugging someone that wasn't her, that it didn't sit well with her, and that the thought made her angry with herself.

"I'm sorry, Jess. Here," she apologized quietly, the hardened glare in her eyes softening to a gaze of remorse and affection. She lifted the cook pot and handed it to him. "Thanks for the help."

When they got all of the food outside, Jesse's mind was still in a whirl, but the rest of the day went very well. Leslie seemed much more like normal. When it was time to eat, she insisted that he try the potato salad, and it wasn't until she had watched him eat the last bite of it and heard him comment that it was delicious that she informed him that she had made it herself. After that, Jess feigned disgust while Leslie feigned irritation, a moment that more than a few people used to snap a few photographs.

At around three in the afternoon, Leslie's grandmother finally arrived. Her plane had been delayed and she was exhausted, but she had immediately perked up and was overcome with excitement when Leslie introduced her to Jess. She was a wonderful woman, and Jess wouldn't have been surprised to hear that she was closer to her granddaughter than Leslie was with her father.

Later on, Mr. Burke used the small stage he had set up and announced the end of the party. A lot of people stuck around afterward, but Jess decided that it was time for him to go home. It was dark outside and starting to get a little chilly. Leslie decided to go with him in case his father was mad at him for staying out too late. She always seemed to be able to calm Jack Aarons. PT had managed to sneak out with them, and neither of them noticed until they were already at Jesse's house.

His house was quiet, and it seemed as if everyone had already gone to bed. There was a note on the kitchen table that Leslie found first and read allowed to him.

_Jess_

_-Don't worry about your chores. Me and May Belle went ahead and took care of them for you. I hope you had fun over at the Burke's place. If Leslie made anything to eat, make sure you call poison control and we'll bury you in the morning. Don't stay up to late._

_Dad_

"That _man_," Leslie exclaimed quietly, mock-anger in her tone. "I'd like to see him actually turn down a meal that I made." Jess silently agreed in amusement. He often reasoned that the only reason his dad had avoided being obese his entire life was that he didn't make enough money to support his habit.

Leslie demanded that they watch a few minutes of television before she left. Even though TV wasn't her most favorite thing in the world, she still got curious as to what was on it worth watching from time to time.

After Jess sat on the couch, his friend decided to make a nuisance out of herself by heaving herself onto the couch and throwing her legs across his lap. He groaned, but she laughed, highly amused by her own actions.

Two minutes of watching television was all it took for both of them to fall asleep. When Leslie's father came looking for her a half hour later, raising Jesse's dad from his slumber in the process, no one woke them.


	4. The Invitation

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter 4 - The Invitation  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

The following school week went slow for everyone that was involved. Even the teachers started complaining about needing some extended time of the school building. Lark Creek public schools were notorious for not providing air conditioning outside of the principle's office and the library, and the beginning of September had neglected to bring them cooler temperatures. It was still in the mid-nineties most of the time, and even at night the humidity was very uncomfortable.

It didn't help at all when Jack Aarons left his family on Wednesday for a corporate meeting in West Virginia. All he would tell his family was that some hardware company was trying to buy out the store, and that the managers (even shift managers) from every branch were required to attend. Mary could only think the worst, and she seemed very certain that her husband was about to lose his job. He wasn't due back until Friday, so they just had to be patient and wait it out.

Things had been a little better in the household since the beginning of summer. Brenda was working part time at a sporting goods store downtown, and the money that she didn't use to buy gas was handed over to her father to help pay expenses, such as bills, clothes and other things. They'd even had enough money to buy a new television set for Brenda and Ellie's room so that they would stop fighting with Jesse and May Belle on what they were going to watch every night.

Things wouldn't go so great if Jack lost his job. Brenda had become a little more responsible over the passed couple of years, but since she was still in her senior year of high school, there was no way that she could make enough money to support the family while their father looked for a new job. Jess was used to the family's financial stress and tried not to worry about it too much, and it was getting harder and harder just to get May Belle and Joyce Ann to eat these days. The girls seemed to be able to function all day long on a bowl of cereal in the morning and a peanut butter sandwich that they took with them for lunch everyday.

Brenda and Ellie were the opposite. Even though they managed to keep good figures, it seemed to Jess and probably the rest of the family that they could sit at the table and eat all day so long as someone kept sitting food down in front of them. Their parents were just happy to eat.

Labor Day was coming as fast as it could, and if there was someone more excited about it than the school kids, it was Jack. The man seemed to live for Labor Day, and it seemed to be the time of the year when he was in his absolute best mood. No one was expected to do chores on the first Monday in September, which was just more reason to celebrate.

"Labor Day is a day off for the working man," Jesse's father could always be heard saying. "It's not a time for chores, it's a time for having fun and taking a break."

Quite the opposite of what Jess was expecting, Thursday came and went very quickly and left only a full school day left in front of them before the long weekend. Leslie seemed almost certain that she was going to get pinned down with a ton of extra homework. Her Geometry teacher didn't seem overly fond of her and Jess was a little suspicious that he was assigning more homework to her than to the rest of her class.

Friday at lunch, the two of them decided to go and eat their lunch outside. Not surprisingly, it was actually a bit cooler outside than it was inside the school, especially in the shaded area that they chose to sit at. The wind was picking up as well, rustling the trees on the school yard.

Jess was pleasantly surprised to find that his lunch wasn't horrible that day. He had a small bag of Cheez-Its and two turkey sandwiches with cheese. Leslie had her usual lunch, consisting of two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a banana and and small container of fresh pineapple. She still happily shared her pineapple with Jess.

Fourth and fifth period were a breeze. Leslie used most of study hall to finish up her Family Relationships portfolio. Jess still wondered why she had even chosen that class as an elective. Her parents were the best people in the world as far as he was concerned.

About halfway through the period, Jesse's attention shifted to Renick, who was hunched over some papers and jotting some things down. He suddenly remembered that Renick had suggested that he ask Leslie if anything was bothering her.

"Leslie?"

"Yeah, Jess?" Her attention instantly shifted from what she was doing to Jess.

"Um, I wanted to ask you," Jes started, nervously. He wasn't sure why he felt so nervous. "If there is anything bothering you. Like, anything you want to talk about?"

Leslie just gazed at him for a moment with a thoughtful expression, looking as if she had no idea what he was talking about. Jess felt like a complete idiot and sighed heavily, resting his head on his arms and looking up at her. She just gave him a puzzled look and then went back to her work.

Once school was over and they were home, Jess had to rush home to get his chores done before his dad arrived. Leslie was bored and decided to help him out, so it didn't take them more than a half an hour to get everything done. Jess was planning to mow the lawn, but the sky was beginning to darken as a large storm cloud started its approach toward Lark Creek, so he decided to just let it wait until the next day. He hoped his father wouldn't be too angry about it.

They both went inside the house a few minutes later. Jesse's mother greeted Leslie warmly and asked her if she wanted anything to drink, to which the blonde girl politely declined. Both of them went for the love seat and sat down, Leslie rest her head back on the cushion and lightly closing her eyes. She was wearing an outfit very similar to the one she had been wearing the day Jess had given her PT, complete with hat. He had always liked when she wore that outfit. Jess felt a strong urge to put his arm around her shoulders and pull her close to him, but resisted. They had already been thoroughly embarrassed when they had woken up together Monday morning, her legs stretched across his lap. Someone had to have seen them like that, but if they had no one had said anything about it.

They sat there for a long time. The lights were off, and the clouds covering the sun outside cast a very eerie glow through the entire room. Leslie dozed off a couple of times, her head lolling to one side or the other before she would open her eyes and try to pretend to not be tired. Finally, she seemed to fall sleep, and her head was starting to fall dangerously close to his shoulder. He watched with a strange feeling in his stomach. Just as it seemed that it would happen, the loudest crack of thunder Jess had ever heard in his life caused him to jump and caused Leslie's eyes to shoot open in alarm.

It was almost six in the afternoon when the old pickup could be heard pulling into the driveway. Just like that, May Belle's feet were clambering down the stairs and Mary was at the front door, raising part of the window blind with one hand and peeking outside. Jess just kept his place on the couch and Leslie was still dozing off next to him. After a moment, Mary back off from the door and opened it to let her husband inside. Rain was pouring out of the sky by this time, so Jack practically ran into the living room and shook his head about. Jess smiled lightly, PT coming to mind as he watched his father shake the water from his head.

May Belle and their mother were right in Jack's face as soon as he found a moment to breathe. They obviously wanted to know what had occurred at the meeting.

"Where are Brenda and Ellie?" Jack asked. His voice seem to rouse Leslie, who raised her head and looked around the room sleepily.

"Brenda's at work," Mary said. "Ellie's at her soccer game."

"May Belle, go up and get Joyce Ann. I have some good news and bad news."

Everyone assembled in the living room, May Belle and Joyce Ann sitting with their mother on the couch. Jack stood in the center of the room, looking neither happy nor distraught.

"Uh, maybe I should leave," Leslie said cautiously, getting ready to stand up.

"You're fine right there, Leslie," Jack told her. She relaxed on the seat again.

Jack stood there for a very long time, just looking at his family and trying to figure out what they thought that he was going to say. When everyone, including Leslie looked as if they were going to pick up heavy objects and start throwing them at him if he didn't get on with it, he finally decided to give his family the news.

"The meeting was called, because a company called Ace Hardware has decided to buy out the company that I work for," he began. Everyone in the family already knew this. "I had no idea what to expect, but it turns out that the meeting was a re-organizational meeting."

Jess wasn't sure exactly what that meant. All he could figure was that they were letting people go to make room for their own employees or something like that.

"They're opening seventeen new stores across Virginia and West Virginia over the next three months in addition to what they'll be acquiring once they finalize the purchase on my company's stores," Jack continued. He suddenly looked very happy. "The president of Ace Hardware himself has asked me, given my track record, to be the new Virginia and West Virginia Regional Manager!"

Jess felt his jaw drop. His mother was across the room with her arms wrapped around his father almost instantly. May Belle and Joyce Ann were jumping up and down. Leslie was beaming brightly.

"That's great dad!" Jess finally managed.

"Damn straight, boy," Jack said as his wife released him. "And you and me are gonna take that camping trip that we never took when you were younger. This weekend, if the weather allows."

Leslie spent the rest of the day at the Aarons house. They had planned to go across the bridge for the first time in nearly six months that day, but the rain had prevented them from doing so, and both of them felt comfortable in the house with Jesse's family for once.

Both of them found themselves upstairs. Jess found himself laying on his bed, his head propped up by a pillow resting on the wall, looking through his own sketches, while Leslie had been mercilessly talked into playing Barbies with May Belle and Joyce Ann, and had joined them next to their bed with their cardboard doll houses. Even May Belle was starting to outgrow the dolls, but she happily played with her sister whenever she could.

"I'm playing with Diane and I say she's an alien fighting pastry chef!" Joyce Ann had already started arguing.

"I own Diane and I say that she's an actress from California!" May Belle shot back.

"Girls, girls," Leslie mediated, her voice sounding amused. "Diane is an alien fighting pastry chef _and _and actress from California!"

"OOo," both of Jesse's sister exclaimed.

Jess stopped looking at his sketches, chuckling, and beamed at Leslie though, she didn't notice him. She handled the girls so well, and both of them seemed to absolutely adore her. Jess tried to think about a time when Leslie and anyone in his family didn't get along, and all he could think of was when Brenda and Ellie had given them both a hard time. Neither of the older siblings really bothered either of them much anymore, which only enforced Jesse's belief that Leslie was capable of bringing the best out in anyone she was around.

It wasn't until Leslie turned to look at him that Jess realized that he was staring. His cheeks felt like they were on fire, and he immediately tried to look as if he had been staring off into space, thinking about what to draw. May Belle had apparently noticed the exchange and was quietly giggling. Joyce Ann joined in, though she wasn't so quiet about it. Leslie just went back to playing with the two girls.

Before any of them realized how late it was getting, Mrs. Aarons called up the stairs to announce that dinner was ready. May Belle dropped the doll she had been playing with and darted down the stairs with Joyce Ann, who was being just as imitative as ever.

Jess kept working on a drawing he had been working on since the awkward incident about an hour earlier. Leslie walked slowly to his bed and seated herself on it, her back facing him, but her head turned and looking directly at what he had been drawing.

It was a marvelous drawing. One of he best, she noted. It depicted a doll house on top of a stand next to a small bed. On the bed were two little girls, both holding dolls and looking down upon a older girl who was sitting next to the bed on her knees, only the truest form of admiration in their sparkling(_are they really sparking!? _Leslie had to wonder) eyes She was wearing jeans, a brown vest and an old hat, the sides from which short streams of blonde hair flowed just passed her ears on either side. Only the girl's back was visible.

She looked to Jess, at a loss for words. Her eyes were gleaming and her mouth was agape. Jess looked back at her with a nervous half-smile and quickly closed the book. He hadn't intended for her to see it yet, if at all, and felt a little embarrassed. They sat there, unspeaking for a few moments before Leslie cleared her throat.

"I think your family's getting ready to eat," she told him, her voice a little scratchy.

"Yeah," Jess said and sat up.

Leslie stood from the bed and went down the stairs, Jess following closely. When they reached the bottom, Leslie turned around and smiled at him.

"Well, I suppose I'd better head out," she said, quietly. Jess was prepared to speak when a strong voice startled him.

"Really?" Jack said, just finishing screwing a light bulb into the living room ceiling fan. He started approaching them once he had finished. "Where you off to?"

"Well, you guys are about to eat and I have plenty of weekend homework to entertain myself with."

"Nonsense," Jack said. "You have as much a reason to be here as anyone. Come and grab a plate, Mary made plenty."

Leslie smiled brightly and both of them joined Jesse's father in walking to the kitchen, where a place had already been set for Leslie. Ellie was home now, but Brenda was working late since it was a weekend, so they had given her spot to Leslie, directly across from Jess.

The food was incredible. Jack had gone to the market during the long drive home from West Virginia and bought quite a number of steaks for his family to celebrate. Mrs. Aarons had prepared peas and mashed potatoes to go along with it, and for the first time in a while, dinner was accompanied by happy and fun conversation rather than large family that didn't seem to want to talk to each other.

"Thanks for joining us for dinner Leslie," Jesse's mother said midway through the meal. "Is your family doing okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Leslie said in the very modest tone she seemed to use around Mrs. Aarons. "Everything is really delicious." Mary smiled widely. "I'm really happy for you, Mr. Aarons."

"Where do you get that 'Mr. Aarons' stuff at?" Jack mused, feigning aggravation. "You can call me Jack, Leslie." He winked. "And thanks, it means a lot."

It felt weird to Jess, to see his father in such a good mood. He didn't say much during dinner, but he couldn't help looking from his father, to his mother, to May Belle and Joyce Ann, to Leslie, and feeling some strange emotion. It was a sense of security he had never felt before. It was a stress free house hold. It was happiness. It was comfort. Most of all, it was love.

Once dinner was over, Leslie went (more like _ran_) home to grab three sets of clothes and to let her parents know that she might not be home all weekend. Jack had invited her to stay for the night and to accompany him and Jess on the camping trip they had spontaneously decided to embark on the next day. This, of course sparked an annoying argument from May Belle. While she was gone, Jack sat at the empty dinner table with his son, hoping as much as Jess did that Leslie's parents wouldn't have a problem with her going.

"If you wanted it to be just you and me dad, I can tell Leslie," Jess said after a period of long silence. "She'll understand."

"Boy, if I didn't want her to come along then I wouldn't have invited her," Jack shot back. Good point, Jess decided.

They had never had a strong relationship, but the older Jess became the easier it was for him to love and respect his father. When he was younger, he had accepted their financial problems, but had never really understood them. The older he got, the more he understood how hard it must have been to raise such a large family with a single paycheck from a retail job. His father had also stepped up in his eyes the day that they both had thought Leslie would die. It seemed so long ago, but neither of them had forgotten.

_"She brought you something special when she came here, didn't she? If she doesn't make it, that's what you need to hold on to. That's how you'll keep her alive."_

If one piece of advice had ever stuck with Jess better than Bill's (_"Far and away, the best prize life can offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."_) or Renick's (_"Never let go of that bond, Jess."_) it was his father's words that day. Leslie was still there with him, but he hadn't stopped holding on, he would never let go, and that was most definitely work worth doing.

"She did, dad," Jess said suddenly. Jack screwed up his face. "That day, at the hospital. You asked me if Leslie brought me something special when she came here. You told me to hold on to it, and if she didn't make it, that's how I would keep her alive. Well, she did, dad. And I am holding on."

Jack had a tiny sparkle in his eye as he smirked. "Oh yeah? What'd she bring you, Jess?"

Jess thought about it for a long time. He was never sure exactly what it was she had brought him. Sure, she had opened his eyes to his own imagination and had made him see confidence in himself, but those seemed like a result of what she had brought him.

"She brought you a friend, Jess," his father said for him. "The best kind you could ever find, but you didn't even have to look for it. You've given her the same thing. It's like you've exchanged gifts, and both were identical once the wrapping paper was off." It was a weird analogy, but it sounded right.

Their discussion was interrupted by the back door opening and then gently being closed. Jess knew immediately that it was Leslie and not Brenda, because Leslie was the only person that ever bothered to close the door behind her rather than just allowing it to slam shut on its own. Jack gave his son a stern look, and then Jess stood to greet Leslie as she came into the kitchen.

"So what'd your parents say?" Jess asked as if it wasn't obvious. She had a heavy looking bag slung over one shoulder.

"They're fine with it," she said, smiling. "I'm just not allowed to come home with poison ivy."

"No promises," Jesse's father said immediately.

"I know, they were just kidding."

"Well why don't you and Jess go up to his room and make sure that you haven't forgotten anything," Jack said. "I'll put May Belle on the couch tonight and you can use her bed."

"Oh no, don't do that!" Leslie exclaimed. "I can find somewhere to sleep, Mr. Aaro-err, Jack."

"Suit yourself," Jack shrugged and went into the living room to watch some television with his wife.

The two of them went up the stairs and plopped down on Jesse's bed. May Belle was already in the room, doing her weekend homework from the looks of it. If there was one thing different in May Belle from anyone else in the family, it was that she wasn't a procrastinator. She always did her weekend assignments of Friday nights and her daily homework right after school. Jess had grown a little suspicious over the years and didn't have to wonder who had influenced his sister in her work habits. Leslie was much the same way.

Jess watched Leslie go through everything she had packed, and both of them blushed a little when Leslie inadvertently pulled her undergarments out. When they both decided that she had everything that she needed for the weekend, Leslie pulled out her Geometry homework and went to work on it. Jess didn't have any homework to worry about. He had managed to finish it all in study hall earlier that day, so he did what he could to help her finish.

By the time they finished, it was completely dark outside. Leslie was drawn to the window, looking at the stars with the same sparkle of admiration in her eyes that May Belle and Joyce Ann always seemed to give her

"You're so lucky Jess. I have a big tree outside my window. I can't see a thing." Jess could only smile to himself.

May Belle was already fast asleep, her small blanket curled up around her. The rest of the house seemed to be quiet, too. Leslie kept looking out the window for a while, until she announced that she had to use the bathroom. Jess watched the door to his bedroom from the time she walked out of it until the time she came back in. She had a sheepish grin on her face.

"Your parents fell asleep on the couch," she told him. Jess wasn't surprised. They always seemed to do that on the weekends that his father didn't have to work. It was the one time they could be together without stress tearing them apart. "I need to find a place to sleep."

Jess scooted himself over on the bed. It was just big enough for both of them.

"What would your parents think?" Leslie asked quietly.

"They'd think that they're stupid for falling asleep on the couch," he said. "Now lay down."

She did, slipping underneath the heavy comforter. She hadn't brought any pajamas for the night, only for the nights they would be on the camping trip, so she sept in her clothes. Jess did the same, but more because he just felt too lazy to go and change than anything else.

"It was nice of your dad to invite me," she said. Jess reached across her and turned the lamp off, casting the room into darkness. "Oh man, put some deodorant on!"

"Don't inhale when someone's armpit is hanging over your nose, stupid!" They both laughed. "He's just in a really good mood from the promotion. I think he might have taken a liking to you."

"Well, I've never been camping before," she confessed. He could almost hear that wonderful smile of hers spread across her face, and he could feel her eyes look up at him, even though he couldn't really see her. "Should be fun!"

"Yeah," he replied. It kind of amazed him. She loved nature and everything and had never been camping. He had only been once, when he was little.

"Everything okay, Jess?" He felt her move slightly underneath the covers.

"Yeah," he said again, almost robotically. "Every thing's great."

For the first time in his life, everything was.


	5. The Perfect Gift

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 5 – The Perfect Gift  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson. _

It was on Labor Day weekend twenty-nine years before that Andrew Aarons took his two boys, Robert and Jack to Sewood, about four-hundred miles from Lark Creek, for a camping trip. The entire area was extremely laid back, and the camping grounds were very nice and often uninhabited during the school year. Even so many years later, the older Aarons sibling could remember the fine smell of the woodland and the wonderful sound of the wind blowing through so many trees. When he awoke in the morning to the sound of birds chirping, he couldn't help but think about those simpler times and how amazing it would be to walk out of a small tent and greet mother nature so early in the morning. It was for all of these reasons and more that, after setting out from Lark Creek almost four hours earlier, Jess was still on the road with his father and best friend.

They had been woken up at five-thirty in the morning by the whispering voice of Mr. Aarons, and after quick showers they had set out on the road before anyone else in the family had woken up. It had been Jack's plan all along, as he wanted to avoid the last minute complaints of May Belle and Joyce Ann, who were still far from happy about the whole thing.

Jess hated long drives more than anything, and had been expecting to hate this one as well, but there was something about it that he thoroughly enjoyed. All three of them were squeezed in the front, Leslie sitting between Jess and his father. She was smaller than Jess was, so she had volunteered to sit in the middle. When the sun started to light up the sky, all of them were silent and just watched it happen.

Afterward, the three of them engaged in conversation. Well, it was mostly Jack and Leslie that did the talking. Jess sat quietly and listened through most of it, as he usually did. Jack was sure to reminisce about times long passed, sharing various stories from his childhood and old memories of the same camping grounds that they were going to. Leslie talked about stories her dad had told her. After some inquiring and pestering from Jack, she also shared a few of her fantasy stories with him that she had shared with May Belle and Joyce Ann, which Jess was surprised to find that his father enjoyed. He had always been a realistic man, not one to rely on fantasy tales to get him through the day. Something was different about him, though. So far from Lark Creek, he seemed like such a nice person without a care in the world.

"You guys getting hungry?" Jack asked. They had been on the road for a while now, and none of them had eaten a proper breakfast.

"A little," Leslie admitted. Jess was glad she did, because he probably wouldn't have spoken up if she hadn't.

A few miles later, they pulled off to a cafe that looked promising. Even though it was getting close to eleven in the morning, they were able to order breakfast. Jack told them to order what they wanted, but Leslie couldn't help but feel a little reluctant. She knew that money was tight for the family, and Jesse's dad hadn't gotten his first paycheck as Regional Manager yet. In the end, she decided to order a small omelet and a glass of milk. Jess wasn't quite as modest, and ordered a plate of pancakes and sausage. His father made a note that his son had the right idea, and ordered the same thing.

"Maybe I did teach you a think or two about good food," Jack said, smiling.

"Maybe you just taught him that anything covered in syrup is awesome," Leslie replied. Jack chuckled.

"We caught this boy downing a bottle of syrup once when he was five or six," Jesse's father shared with her. Leslie gave Jess a sinister smirk. Jess just groaned.

"I can't imagine Jess with that much sugar in him," Leslie said. They were talking like he wasn't even there! "He might actually be able to outrun me with that kind of energy!"

The meal went well, but was short lived and they were back on the road within fifteen minutes. Luckily, they wee only about an hour away. This part of the ride was a little more entertaining for Jess, as he finally opened his mouth and did some chatting. Jack did a lot of listening, and even brought up something that he had never been able to even consider with his old job. He asked Jess what college he would like to attend, which left Jess speechless and thoughtful the rest of the way.

When they reached the camping grounds, they immediately went to work pitching the tent. It was actually fairly large. It was enclosed and had a zipper opening, and the inside was very spacious with more than enough room for all three of them to sleep. It wasn't until Jack pulled an old fashioned and very small green tent out that the two friends realized that there would be only two of them sleeping in the large one.

When they were all set up, they decided to go for a walk through the grounds and into the woods. It was still early afternoon and they had plenty of time to kill before they really needed to be back at the tent.

Jack lead them up through a narrow path marked by large rocks embedded into the ground. Jess and Leslie followed, both trying their hardest to leap from rock to rock and maintain their balance. Jess never managed to fall, but Leslie did. The first time, Jess made sure she was okay and proceeded to laugh at her. The second time, Leslie sensed that she had lost her footing and grabbed hold of Jesse's shirt collar, pulling him down with her. They both laughed it off and kept after Jesse's dad, who had gained quite a lead on them.

After a mile or two of walking, they came upon a very small pond. Jack stopped at the edge and sat down. Jess did the same, and Leslie followed him.

"Your uncle Robert almost drowned here," Jack said after a few seconds. Leslie looked a little uncomfortable. "I pulled him out. I remember that he was upset with me, because he had always been a better swimmer than I was."

"Like father, like son," Leslie mused. Jess didn't like the comparison.

On their way back to the tent, Jess finally fell on his own. Leslie grinned and hopped over to him, but when she got to him he was holding something. It was a rather large, leather bound book that didn't seem to have a title.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

"I dunno," Jess answered. "My back landed on it when I fell."

It looked very old, and the binding was wearing away. It had a fastener on the front, but part of it had broken and it was no longer usable. It was hard cover, and surprisingly thick.

Leslie took it from him and cautiously opened the front cover. She wasn't at all surprised at what she saw when she did.

_You hold in your hands_

_The Most Private Diary_

_of_

_Valaree Cerone_

Jess and Leslie looked to one another, curious as to why a rather old looking diary would be lying in such a deserted area. Not many people used the old camping grounds anymore, and given the book's age it had to have been there for quite some time. The pages were obviously worn from rain and other natural calamities.

"Come on, you two," Jack's voice rang from a good distance down the path. "We didn't come out here so you could sit next to a pile of rocks!"

Leslie gave Jess a knowing glance and tucked the book between her shirt and her jacket, holding it securely with one arm. They started back on the path, neither of them hopping in excitement anymore. A haunting feeling had been cast over them, and they walked in silence. Jesse's father didn't wait for them. He kept walking ahead, and they didn't catch up with him until they had all arrived at the camp site.

They didn't do much more that day. Jack insisted that they go and find some wood to build a campfire with once it was dark. They had to go out three different times, because the wood they found just wasn't the right material for building a fire. Leslie entertained Jess by telling him stories, some of which Jess was sure she had told him before. They would never get old or boring though; not with Leslie telling them. She always knew the perfect way to entice her listeners.

The sun was long gone when Mr. Aarons finally got the fire going. He had been sure to bring along marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Jess had eaten smores in his lifetime, but Leslie hadn't and was extremely excited when she got hers. She actually seemed more excited by the prospect of roasting marshmallows than anything else. Through most of his time with her, Jess had rarely considered that there was anything that Leslie hadn't done. It was weird to see her likes that.

A hour (and in Leslie's case, a half dozen smores) later, Jack announced that they should turn in so that they could watch the sun rise the next morning. Jess and Leslie retreated to their tent, where they found that two bedrolls had already been set up, side-by-side. They then took turns changing clothes while the other stood outside the tent.

After Leslie finished, Jess went in and put on his own pajamas, which were a matching pair of loose-fitting shorts and a shirt. When he finished, he joined Leslie outside, who was sitting beside the remains of their campfire and staring up, into the cloudless sky. She had a small blanket draped over her shoulders, her hands absently clutching both corners and pulling them together at her lap. Her mouth was agape and her eyes sparkled. It took her a moment to notice that Jess was standing behind her, torn between looking down at the top of her head and looking up at the sky.

"Hey," she said quietly, not wanting to disturb Jesse's dad. "Sit."

Jess accepted the invitation and sat down next to her. They had been walking around and sweating all day, but somehow she still had a clean soapy smell about her, and Jess wondered if it was a real scent or if it was just a cognitive trick that his mind was playing on him from being around her so often.

"Wonderful, aren't they?" Leslie was smiling in her state of awe. Jess had to agree. The stars that night were definitely something special. "I wonder if Valaree Cerone is looking at them too, wondering where her lost diary is."

"No, they're just looking at you," Jess said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "And they're taking bets on how many more smores you can scarf down tonight." Leslie punched him on the arm. Jess just laughed. He wasn't very good at making jokes or wisecracks, but all of the ones he did come up with seemed good enough to make Leslie laugh.

"I wonder if they ever look like this over Terabithia?"

Jess thought about it for a couple of seconds and came to the conclusion that neither of them had ever really been there into the night. The latest he could remember was that very first time they had gone across the stream and didn't return home until the sun was setting.

"Of course they do," Jess said. "Even if they don't really, they still can. You taught me that."

"I didn't teach you anything you wouldn't have figured out for yourself one day," Leslie replied. "Sometimes I find myself wondering who I am. Where am I going? I look at the sky on nights like tonight and I just feel so insignificant."

"Stop selling yourself short," Jess said, his tone very serious. "You turned some poor, pathetic farmer boy into a poor, pathetic farmer boy with imagination! That has to count for something."

Leslie smiled and stood up, Jess following a second later. They both went into their tent and climbed into their bedrolls, laying on their backs and staring up at the top of the tent. They talked some, but they mostly just lay there in silence. Just as Jess was beginning to fall asleep, something heavy landed on his stomach, followed by a pathetic attempt by Leslie to keep from giggling.

Jess gripped the large diary and pushed it off of his chest with an over-exaggerated groan.

"Who would actually keep a diary this big?" Jess wondered out loud. "Seriously. It's almost as big as that book you were reading last summer."

"The _dictionary_, Jess?"

"Yeah, that."

"Give me the book back."

"Why?"

"So I can hit you with it again."

The next day was full of walking and some talking. Jack took both of the young teenagers back into the woods quite a bit further than they had gone the day before. They spent at least four hours walking one direction before they came upon a clearing in the woods. It would have been the perfect spot to set up camp, but it was already to late for that. It was laid out in an imperfect circle, and it reminded Jess a great deal of the Grove of the Pines.

Leslie separated herself from Jess and his father and was wandering around, glancing up at the treetops. There wasn't much of a breeze, so everything stood perfectly still. Even Jack was in some form of awe as he watched the two kids take in their surroundings.

After another hour, they turned back and spent a very long time retracing their steps through the. They had to stop when Leslie managed to step in something that a deer had left behind and wait for her to scrape it off in the leaves, but they actually made good time and were back at the camp site before the sun set.

Before the sun had risen on Monday morning, they were on their way back to Lark Creek. As much as they had all enjoyed the trip, all three of them were extremely pleased by the thought of taking a long, hot shower and using a real toilet. It was only after eleven in the morning when they began to recognize the familiar sites of the old rural town.

When they got back, Jack went immediately to the greenhouse to tend to the plants and make sure that May Belle had done a proper job in his place. Jess let Leslie use the shower first, packing his things away inside his room and throwing his dirty clothes on top of a fresh pile that was building up in the laundry room. His mother had obviously been hard at work while they were gone.

"Where's mom?" Jess asked May Belle as he walked back into his room. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed and seemed significantly involved in drawing something.

"Her and Brenda went somewhere," May Belle said without looking at him.

"What about Ellie and Joyce?"

"They went, too."

Jess sat down on his bed, letting go of an exhausted sigh as he felt the mattress sink under his weight. He spent a second or to mindlessly drumming his hands on his knees and then turned his attention back to May Belle.

"What are you doing, anyway?"

"Nothing," May Belle said casually, not taking her eyes from her work.

"Well, let me see it when you're done."

"'Kay."

A minute or two later, Leslie appeared in the room pinching her nose, a look of feigned disgust on her face. She was wearing a blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans, along with her trademark boots, and she had a fresh towel, wash cloth and bar of soap on one arm. Her hair was still wet and matted to her head. She looked good like that, Jess decided.

"Here, Mr. _Stinky_," Leslie said in the most childish voice she could muster up, tossing the contents of her right arm into Jesse's lap. Jess collected them in his arms and started for the stairs, covertly trying to steal a glance at May Belle's drawing. It didn't work so well. May Belle just gave him an annoyed glance and pulled her blanket up over herself and the paper. Jess smirked. She reminded him of someone.

Two days in a mildly uncomfortable climate doing almost nothing, but being active and walking for miles each day had definitely earned Jess the title of _Mr. Stinky_. He was never one to spend fifteen or twenty minutes in the shower, but this time he almost breached the half hour mark and was sure that and entire house had to be a steaming mess by the time he finally got out. He threw on a white t-shirt and a pair of his old gym shorts from eight grade and headed back upstairs.

Both May Belle and her drawing had disappeared from the room, and Leslie seemed to have also wandered off somewhere. He hoped she hadn't gone home while he was in the shower. He always hated it when she left without him knowing and he didn't get a chance to say goodbye. After a closer inspection of the room, he found her camping supplies still laying next to his bed.

He opened up his sketchbook and went to work on finishing up the drawing he had started on Friday, putting the last touches on the bed and May Belle's hair, and finally coloring everything in. It took him nearly two hours to complete, a time frame in which Leslie, or May Belle, or anybody for that matter never found themselves in his room. Once or twice he could hear Leslie talking excitedly or hear his dad yelling about something or other, but no one ever came upstairs.

He was sliding his sketchbook under his bed and getting ready to go downstairs to see what everyone was up to when the distinct sound of Leslie's boots marching up the stairs turned his focus to watch the doorway. When she came inside, her hair was back to it's normal style and she looked much less exhausted than she had.

"Your dad wants you to come downstairs," she said seriously.

"I was just about to."

She turned and started back down, seeming strangely distant. He followed after a moment, and had no sooner gotten into the living room when he was greeted by an enormous Aarons and Burke "Happy Birthday!"

Jesse's face went pale for a moment, and then completely crimson. It was September fifth, his birthday, and he had completely forgotten about it.

Everyone was there, inside the living room. May Belle had a big smile on her face. Brenda and Ellie were standing together next to the television, both of them smiling somewhat themselves. Jack stood next to Mr. Burke, whose hands were placed firmly on the shoulders of his daughter. His mother and Mrs. Burke both approached him and took turns embracing him in quick hugs.

"All right," Bill said once the initial excitement was over. "Let's not smother the boy."

Leslie didn't appear to hear him, though. She stepped away from her father, forcing a break in his hold on her, and then stood directly in front of him, smiling that smile he loved so much. Then, she wrapped her arms around him. He did his best to return the embrace, but was a little shocked. It was the first time she had hugged him since that day.

"_That is your very own Giant Troll Hunter."_

_"He's for _me!?"

_"And he just took a giant pee all over my sweat shirt."_

The entire room was silent for the few brief moments that the two best friends shared their hug. Then, almost as if on cue, PT scurried into the room, yapping about something or other, and the two of them separated. Leslie was trying hard to cover up the pink tint in her cheeks, and made a successful effort to divert everyone's attention to the dog.

May Belle approached him timidly, no one noticing at first, but everyone's eyes falling on her as she took the last few steps up to him. She looked up at him and then pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket and held it out for him. He took it and started to unfold it.

"I couldn't afford a present," May Belle stammered. "Momma said I should make you something." Jess finished unfolding it and turned it around to look at it.

It wasn't a well drawn picture, but to Jess it couldn't have been more perfect. It depicted a boy sitting on his bed gazing happily at a blonde girl who was staring dreamily out the window at a wonderful night sky. At the bottom, written out in bubble letters colored in red where the words_ "My King and Queen."_

"I'm sorry if you don't like it," May Belle continued. "I'll try hard to buy something next year."

"May Belle," he said. "You couldn't have bought something as meaningful as this." The whole room beamed at him.

Joyce Ann gave him a small package loosely wrapped in toilet paper. Jess found the whole thing highly amusing, and tore the toilet paper off to find a cheap set of plastic paint brushes. He thanked his four year old sister and told her that it was a wonderful present, which seemed to be enough for her. She went immediately to work chasing PT back and forth between the kitchen and the living room, stopping only to yell at the furry dog as he clambered up the stairway in a desperate attempt to be left alone for five minutes.

Jesse's parents presented him with an envelope, which he promptly opened. There was a rather hilarious card inside that involved a Jack Rabbit and a Donkey, along with the most money Jess had ever owned at one time; a one hundred dollar bill.

Brenda and Ellie gave him their best wishes for the future, which Jess took with a grain of salt but thanked them for anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Burke were next, and they handed Jess a small package. He opened it quickly and found it to be a timer and pedometer. They also gave him an early revision of their next book, which wasn't set for release for another two months.

Then Leslie grabbed hold of Jesse's arm and pulled him over to the couch, forcing him to sit down next to her. She pulled a slender package out from between the arm of the couch and the lamp stand and handed it to him, looking very shaky and very nervous. He eyed her curiously. It was obvious that it was a book, but when he pulled the blue wrapping paper away from it, he felt his jaw drop.

The cover of the book was absolutely incredible. It was made up of the only photograph that the two of them had taken together, that had been taken nearly a year ago, and that Jess had forgotten about. It was of Leslie and Jess, sitting very close together and smiling out at the camera, looking the happiest Jess had ever seen anyone look in a picture. Jess was holding PT tightly, and Leslie was scratching the dog's exposed head. PT seemed to be enjoying it, as his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and it was obvious, even in a stationary photograph, that his tail was wagging excitedly. Behind the three of them was an obviously fake, but no less awe inspiring forested backdrop.

At the very top of the picture was a engraved, smaller version of a crest that Jess had once made. It was of a silver sword cross with a red pencil set against a blue background, trimmed in a red border, masterful yellow letters at the bottom valiantly proclaiming _Nothing Crushes Us. _It was three dimensional, popping forward from the cover almost as if it were removable, and Jess couldn't resist running his hands over it.

For the second time in less than ten minutes, everyone in the room was completely silent. Bill and Judy, who hadn't known what Leslie had been planning to do with the picture when she had asked them for a copy, gazed at their daughter in quiet admiration and self pride in having raised such a wonderful girl. Even Jack Aarons found himself speechless.

Jess turned his head and looked at her in disbelief, his jaw still colliding with the couch cushion. What had he done in his life to deserve her friendship? What had he done to warrant such a selfless friend and such a thoughtful gift? He could almost _hear _the tears welling up behind his eyes, threatening to come out. He could feel his throat tightening.

"It's a sketchbook," Leslie said, her voice quiet and cracking. Something in her voice told Jesse that he need to say or do something, because she sounded as if she thought that he didn't like the gift, that she wanted to cry for a very different reason than he did.

Without thinking, he grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her into him, embracing her in the most heartfelt hug that any of the people in the room had ever seen. She returned in kind. He didn't care that everyone was watching them or that tears were now freely rolling down his cheeks, leaving long streaks in their wake. Gone was the awkwardness that had come so unexpectedly into their earlier embrace. Gone was Jesse's sense of embarrassment.

All that mattered now was that she was there. He was suddenly haunted by the voices that he had heard in his head on the day that the rope had broken, and felt very aware that he could have lost Leslie forever. She wouldn't have been there to give him the perfect gift. Back then, the idea had hurt him, made him afraid. Now, the thought of a life without Leslie was unimaginable; impossible.

For nearly two full minutes, they sat there, held tightly in each other's arms, both of their eyes closed. When someone in the room finally cleared their throat, the separated and Jess tried desperately to get himself together. He could see clearly as they parted that Leslie was crying as well, and when he composed himself well enough to glance at the rest of the party, he could easily make out wet streaks on his mother's and Judy Burke's faces. Bill's face was exceedingly red, and Jack's face was very stern as he tried to maintain his composure and his pride.

Not a word was spoken for a few minutes, until Jesse's mom announced that cake was in the kitchen and waiting to be eaten. There were fifteen candles on it, and when Jess revealed that he wasn't sure what to wish for, Leslie gave him a half smile.

"Can I make a wish for you then?"

Jess nodded, and then Leslie spent a moment looking very intent and very serious. Then, she smiled again and nodded back. Jess blew out the candles and they all ate, conversed and had a great afternoon together. Jack even managed to talk Bill into watching a football game on the television, which they both seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

It was after nine in the evening when the Burkes left. Leslie still had some homework to do, so she went with them, taking a minute to run upstairs and grab her bag from the camping trip. When they were about halfway home, Bill spoke up.

"What did you wish for for Jess, Les?" Leslie just smiled to herself.

"I wished that Jess would always be there to pull me out of the water."

Jess went up to his room as soon as the Burkes had gone, carrying the sketchbook with him. He immediately went to work on the first page, copying the drawing he had just finished before the party, line for line, mistake for mistake. Only one thing was different about it. In the top center of the page, he drew a crest, sword clashing pencil, and in bold yellow text; _Nothing Crushes Us!_


	6. The Unthinkable

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 6 – The Unthinkable  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and not profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

The weeks went by and not much happened to cause excitement in Lark Creek. Adults went to work, children went to school and before anyone really knew what was going on, the October weather had cast an incredible array of colors across the countryside. Fall had taken the county by surprise, and the result was less daylight and a beautiful view of the woodlands.

At the end of September, Brenda announced that she was moving in with her boyfriend of three years. His name was Gabriel, or Gabe, and he was a nice guy. Within a week, she had packed all of her things and was gone. Though Jess had never cared much for his older sisters, it was strange to have one of them suddenly missing from the premises for an extended period of time. Jack and Mary were taking bets on how soon their daughter would be crawling back.

As October began, some bad news did rock a significant portion of the community. Superintendent Graham succumbed to an eleven year battle with lung cancer. Many people in Lark Creek had known him and known him well, as he had always been a very kind man, and normally attended every event that he possibly could. He had even been so diligent as to hold an in-school prayer for Leslie Burke a few days after her near fatal injury, and had frankly ignored the small amount of controversy that it had caused.

Stepping up to replace him was David Richards, the High School Principal. Stepping into Richards' shoes was Henry Tate, the former assistant principal, another inevitably vacant position that was quickly handed to Thomas Renick. This caused a bit of an uproar with some long standing teachers, as Renick had yet to receive his Master's Degree in Education, and had only been teaching for a year and two months, counting his senior year in college when he had taught a focused Creative Writing class.

Despite the changes in leadership, not much changed for the students of Lark Creek's public schools. Mr. Tate was a genuinely nice person that was tough to anger, and only a few bad applies like Scott Hoager, Gary Fulcher and Dennis Patrick were to incur the wrath of the new assistant principal, someone most of the students could hardly picture without a smile crossing his lips.

Jess and Leslie's enjoyment of their second and third period block plummeted however, as a substitute teacher was put in place to fill in for Renick. They were assured from the moment that the new teacher, Mr. Gladstone arrived that Renick would be returning, but simply needed a week or two to adjust to his new job before he would even attempt to balance the two.

To say it the least, Scott Hoager wasn't at all pleased that his loathsome uncle had managed to take the reigns as Lark Creek High's disciplinary coach. He did however, find the ability to enjoy Social Psychology quite a bit more, as Gladstone wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and let him get away with far too much.

He started testing the waters by flicking pen caps at Tiffany Moran and slapping Josh Kuebler's three-ring notebook shut every time he opened it. After a day or two, he started back in on Jess and Leslie, saying very hurtful things that bothered Jess far more than it did the strong spirited blonde that he seated himself next to every day. She had to verbally restrain him half a dozen times on the first day of Hoager's antics, and at least half that many during the next few days.

Lunch and Study Hall were quite a bit more peaceful for the two friends. Hoager's schedule had been changed due to him being kicked out of his English class, which ultimately landed him in the second lunch period of the day, rather than the first with Jess and Leslie. This lead Gary Fulcher and John Zileem to eat their lunch in the gymnasium rather than the cafeteria.

Study hall was always a source of relaxation for both of them. Renick was still present during that class on most days, using it mostly to deal with any paper work that he had to get done. Despite the well enforced rule that there was to be no talking during study periods, the new assistant principal seemed to turn a blind eye whenever Jess and Leslie got a little on the chatty side.

It was on a Thursday when Leslie brought a dusty old book, the very one that the two of them had discovered during camping trip during the early part of September, to school with her. Jess noticed it among her usual class books as soon as they had met at the bus stop, but said nothing about it. He couldn't have cared less about it, to be frank. It was someone's lost thoughts inscribed on sheets of paper between two covers, and the idea that it was supposed to be private combined with the little love he harbored for reading erased all appeal.

During third period, Jess caught her reading it a few times out of the corner of his eye. She seemed as engrossed in it as she had in every other book that she brought to school with her, which wasn't a big surprise. Still, it didn't seem like her to be so willing to pry into someone else's personal affairs, even when she had no idea who that person was.

Neither of them had any homework to get done during study hall, which made Jess hopeful that they would bee able to talk about some things. Given the amount of work that high school had been piling on top of Jesse's daily chores, the two best friends hadn't seen much of each other since a few days after the birthday party. It was the longest they had gone without seeing each other outside of school since the accident.

Jess was quite frustrated when Leslie paid little attention to him during the study period. When they met at the table, she regarded him with a quick smile and sat down, going immediately to work on reading Valaree Cerone's diary. He just sighed under his breath and laid his head down on his arms, staring at the blank space between the top of each page and the writing while trying with some difficulty to avoid dozing off.

About fifteen minutes into the period, Jesse's frustration with Leslie's actions turned to blatant anger toward Eric Hatcher. He approached the table that Jess and Leslie were seated at quite timidly, his hands planted firmly in his pockets. He definitely didn't seem like the most self confident person in the world, despite his obvious talents. At first, Jess wondered why he seemed so nervous, but it didn't take long for him to figure it out.

"Leslie?" Eric said, forced to speak after a moment of stand next to the girl's chair and being regarded only by Jess.

Leslie raised her right index finger, telling the brainiac to wait while she continued to run the index finger on her left hand further and further down the page. It was obvious that despite being taken aback by the attractive young girl, he was marveling over the speed with which she could descend a wall of text presented on a book page.

Once she had finished the page and came to a convenient place on the next at which to stop reading, she looked up at Eric, her left index finger still lingering underneath the sentence that she had left off on. Jess couldn't fully read her expression from the angle at which her head was now turned, but she was obviously curious and probably a bit confused.

"Hi," Leslie said cheerfully, but with a tone that confirmed her curiosity to Jess.

"Hey," Eric greeted dully. He glanced at Jess for half a second and then looked back to Leslie. "Uh, could we maybe go talk over by the water fountain?" Leslie looked toward Renick, who was busy tossing numbers into a calculator for Jackie Brooke (it was no secret that miss Jackelyn harbored a crush for the eccentric assistant principal) and offering her guidance on her algebra.

"I don't think we're really supposed to talk during this period."

Eric smirked, seemingly more confident. His next words were spoken quietly. "I work in the Counselor's Office this period. He thinks I have some news for you from Dr. Falkner."

Jess thought he saw Leslie flash him an excited glance, but sincerely hoped that any excitement in her posture over this boy approaching her was his mind playing tricks on him. The fires of jealousy had started burning the moment he had spotted Hatcher walking to the table, and now they were in full swing.

After another moment or two, Leslie got up and followed Eric to the water fountain. Jesse's (and Renick's, Jess noted) eyes followed them the entire way. They weren't audible in the least, despite the fact that the room was almost dead silent.

The exchange was short lived and Leslie was back, seated across from him in under a minute. Jess felt his jaw loosen up a bit, bring him to the realization that most of his body had been tensed up through it all. Leslie just rolled her eyes and went back to reading, and Jess felt offended that she didn't feel the need to report in on the conversation.

"So?"

"So, what?" Leslie tried to sound like she didn't know what Jess was asking about, but it was pretty obvious in her tone that she was just trying to add a few more seconds of suspense into Jesse's life.

"You freakin' know," Jess said a little louder than he had intended, agitation gripping at his vocal cords. Leslie sighed.

"He asked me to Homecoming."

There had only been one other time that Jess felt like he did after hearing her say those words. He remembered it clearly, mostly because a similar, but at the same time opposite scenario often played itself out in his dreams. It hadn't happened nearly as often in the past year as it had right after Leslie's accident, but it still happened every few weeks. The difference in setting and the words spoken by Leslie's father were subtle, but Jess remembered them clearly every time he woke up from another recurrence.

_She loves you, you know._

_She __**loved **__you, you know._

Jess felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water over his head.

"And you said...?"

"I told him I'd think about it," she replied quickly, dropping her gaze back to the book in front of her. It would have been obvious to anyone else that she simply didn't want to observe his reaction, but it wasn't so obvious to Jesse Aarons. If she had kept watching him, she would have seen his expression change from one of shock, to horror and to barely suppressed anger in rapid succession.

"He's cutting it a little close, ain't he?" Jess asked after some time. It was true enough. Homecoming was only a week away. It had been slightly delayed that year, and was being held closer to the end of the school's football season rather than near the beginning.

Leslie closed her eyes and hung her head low, her hair blocking her face from view, disappointment apparent in her expression to the zero people that could see it.

"A little, I suppose."

"He must be desperate."

Jess didn't even think about what he had just said, and planted his head face down in his arms to catch some sleep before sixth period. Leslie Burke had never been one to take offense at someone else's comments toward her, but coming from her best friend it stung worse than anything ever had. On some level, she knew that he hadn't meant it that way. He would never purposely imply anything about her like that. Somehow though, it hurt just the same.

Leslie was unusually distant with Jess for the rest of the day. She didn't stop him from taking a seat next to her on the bus, but she didn't supply him with that warm smile that always seemed to make the bumpy, noisy rides that much easier to get through. Instead of chatting with him about whatever it was that was on their minds to pass the time, Leslie opened the old diary again and started reading.

When they were almost home, Janice Avery made it a point to hop into the seat in front of them (incurring a "No seat switching!" tout from the bus driver). Leslie looked up only to let her know that she had noticed her. Janice rarely took the bus home anymore, since she now had her driver's license.

Janice had changed a lot in the last few years, something everyone attributed to her prominent-yet-distant friendship with Leslie. It was because of Leslie that Janice was no longer living with her father and was now under the watchful eye of a very loving foster family. She had dropped a lot of weight and had taken a much more pleasant view on the world. She had also become quite a bit more feminine, something that Jess would never get used to in a million years.

"Hey Beanpole," Janice greeted, as was customary. Despite the two being on friendly terms, the former bully had yet to relent in her pet name for Leslie Burke. Jess thought the nickname a little immature, but quite fitting. Leslie was very thin and didn't really eat a a lot, though she had proven time and time again that she was very capable of putting away a large portion of food. "I heard you got asked to Homecoming today."

Jess rolled his eyes, and though he kept his ears open to the conversation he tried to make it look as if he had suddenly become interested in whatever Colleen Daniels was doing in the seat next to his. To be honest, the simple movement of the _very _attractive and _very _popular cheerleader's head to the beat of her iPod didn't even register in his mind. His eyes being set on the girl didn't actually mean that he was watching her.

"Yeah," Leslie said plainly. "No big deal. I'm sure tons of guys asked you."

Janice snorted. "Oh yeah. Sam Fogt and Dennis Patrick, both sources of _delightful_ conversation and both with personalities _undeniably_ appealing to me. Their charm and charisma make me swoon, to be sure." Drama and sarcasm abound. Leslie even managed to crack a humoring grin, something that Jess couldn't see, but could practically hear as it spread across her face.

"But you, girl!" Janice was starting to become annoying. Why did she have to seem so encouraging and happy about this? "I bet you never thought you'd have five of the most popular guys in school asking you to something like this. Jeez!"

Jess's eyes went wide, and looking back on this moment in later weeks he was pretty sure that his heart had stopped beating for a good minute or two as soon as his mind had shaken the words around inside his head. His mouth fell open, which soon turned into an embarrassing situation once Colleen took notice of his gaze and turned her head to see a wide-eyed, opened mouthed freshman with a look of shock on his face staring straight at her. He quickly averted his path of vision, and took a keen interest in the green padded back of Janice Avery's seat.

Leslie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her smile gone. She gave Jess a look of worry and concern, but he was still very involved in studying the patterns of the back support and didn't give notice to her gaze. Janice was suddenly very aware of the unspoken tension between her friends. She wanted to ask Leslie a question now, but realized that it might be a sensitive topic and turned slowly around in her seat.

When the bus pulled up at that old dirt road, Jess got up and did what he normally did whenever he had her boxed up against the window: he let Leslie out in front of him. Once they were off, the bus started to pull away, but then jerked back as the driver hit the break. As Janice stepped off of the bus, Jess was haunted by the familiarity of the scene, from the first day that he had even known Leslie.

"What're you doing?" Leslie asked Janice as she stepped up next to them.

"Coming to your house," Janice announced. "We need to have a chat, I think."

Leslie didn't comment. They walked on down the road, and when they came to the first split, all three of them stopped, and both girls turned to regard Jess.

"Uh," Jess kind of stammered. He had grown used to it being just him and Leslie saying goodbye to each other after school every day since they had left May Belle behind in Lark Creek Elementary. "See ya."

"Yeah, see ya." Leslie sounded just as out of place as he felt.

Jess turned and started walking toward his own house, which wasn't blocked from sight like the majority of Leslie's. Once he had managed a good distance from girls, and probably considered both of them long gone, he broke into a full on sprint for his house.

Leslie screwed up her face a bit as Jess started away from them, the sun directly in her line of sight. Her squinted, concentrated eyes didn't turn away until the last of her friend disappeared inside of the old house. Janice Avery's eyes stayed on Leslie, and once the short haired blonde turned to head to her own house, Janice clapped her on the shoulder.

"We have a lot to talk about."

As soon as Jess was inside his house, he made for the kitchen. His mother was behind the counter, as was usual at this time every day. No one else seemed to be on the first floor of the house, though Jess was certain that he could hear May Belle and Joyce Ann arguing upstairs.

"What's the rush?" His mother asked curiously.

"Huh?"

"I could hear you coming from yards away," she confessed. "You do slam your feet a little hard when you're running. It's not a good thing to do, it uses up energy you need to keep pace."

"Oh," he said, not really caring. "Okay."

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Aarons asked as her son made for the back door.

"I need to take the trash out."

"Joyce did it earlier," Mrs. Aarons said without looking up from the cucumber that she was slicing away at. Jess walked back, around to the other side of the counter and folded his arms on top of it, leaning in and looking at his mother. "She said she wanted to be just like her big brother, and then she spent five minutes trying to drag a big bag of trash across the back yard."

Jess chuckled lightly at the mental image just as the sound of his father's pickup truck became audible as it zipped into the old gravel parking lot. While he had immediately started receiving a much heftier paycheck after being promoted, this was Jack's first official day as the new Regional Manager for Ace Hardware. Jess didn't particularly care about his father's job, and had always held a firm belief that a person's professional life and family life should be separate, he was interested to hear about the differences.

When his father walked through the front door and into the kitchen, Jess looked over his shoulder and quickly released the breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding. He was so used to seeing a tired, grumpy, stressed out man walk into the house every day from work that he thought for a moment that this was someone else that was driving a pickup truck.

Jack Aarons was beaming. He didn't look stressed out or tired. His normally tense muscles (something Jess had never realized he had observed until now) were incredibly relaxed. His face displayed a happy, accomplished expression rather than the look of exhaustion normally prevalent there.

He sat his old lunch box down on the table and moved swiftly to his wife. He took her in his arms and kissed her. Jess averted his eyes. It wasn't a sight he particularly disliked, unlike the over exaggerated efforts by many boys his age to avoid seeing that kind of thing, but it wasn't his business to watched his parents make out in the kitchen.

When they were done, Jack looked at his son with a happy smirk on his face.

"Good day at work?" Jess commented with a smile, barely able to keep from laughing.

"Good?" Jack asked incredulously. "More like great. I got to boss around, like ten times the amount of people than I did yesterday, and to be honest, that's all I have to do aside from some paper work."

Jess's mother went back to cutting her cucumber, looking a lot happier than she had when Jess had first walked in the door.

"Is that what you've been cooking with all of these years?" Jack asked sarcastically, looking at all of the old pots and pans after swiping a slice of cucumber from the cutting board. "We're going to have to do something about that."

Jess knew that they were much more financially secure than they had been for a very long time, but it wasn't until now, as he heard his father talking to his mother about his paycheck, that he realized how much better off they really were.

Jack was now the Regional Manager for two states, both states being split into twelve different regions. He was basically holding twelve different jobs, and while he would be busted down to only four (two in each state) in the next six or seven weeks, he would be bringing almost four thousand dollars a week home until then. Four thousand. Even once he was holding only four of the positions, which Jack was sure would also be temporary, he would be bringing home over a thousand dollars every week.

"Which means, Jess," his father started. "We're going to be doing quite a bit of saving up. Since Brenda and Ellie aren't going to college, you have first dibs."

Jess spent most of the afternoon with his father, helping him do measurements around the house. He had always been a very good man, wanting nothing more than to provide his family with a life that they deserved. Jess realized now that his dad had the chance now, and it was that more than anything that was the cause of his happiness. It was as if some internal strife within the man had finally been resolved for the better. He recalled the incident at the hospital four years earlier, when his father had cradled him and tried to make him feel better. It was something that had always been hard for the man to show, but it was there, more prominent now than it had ever been.

Jack Aarons loved his family. Jack Aarons loved his son.

As dinner ended and the Aarons family were all preparing to watch some television before sending the kids off to do their homework, there was a knock at the front door.

"There's the princess," Jack said with a smirk as he walked to the door. "Right on cue."

It wasn't Leslie, though. It was her father. Both Jess and his father sort of recoiled in surprise.

"Hey Bill," Jack said. "What's up?"

Bill looked a little distraught, his eyes looking concerned and almost lifeless in the worst way that any living person's eyes could look.

"Hey, Jack." Whatever had been wrong in Bill Burke's expression was gone now. He seemed like the man he had always known. "I just want to speak with Jess for a moment, if that'd be all right."

"What's up?" Jess asked, approaching the conversation. Bill looked at him and Jack stepped away, joining his family in the living room.

Jess lead Bill up to his room as soon as he felt the impression that this was supposed to be a private chat. Jess sat down on his bed, but Bill remained standing. Jess couldn't help but notice that Bill looked as if he was sick or something.

"Jess, I don't mean to pry into your personal life," Bill started. "I just drove Janice Avery home and she told me about something that happened today at school. You and Leslie get into some kind of a fight?"

"I don't think so," Jess said, honestly.

"Leslie seems to think that you don't like her."

Those words hit Jess like a ton of bricks. The thought of him, Jesse Oliver Aarons, not liking Leslie Burke anymore was like thinking that the man before him, Leslie's father, no longer loved her. It was quite possibly one of the most insane and positively ludicrous ideas that had ever been presented before him, and the look on his face represented that very well. He was speechless and didn't even know how to respond.

"It's not something I would believe for a second," Bill assured him after a moment. "But something in my little girl's mind is telling her otherwise. I don't know what it could be, because when I see the two of you together, even my experienced vocabulary couldn't describe on paper how happy both of you seem. The difference between how she was when we lived in Richmond, and what she's become since meeting you is like night and day."

"I don't know, Mr. Burke," Jess said. "She was very distant with me today. Especially after..."

"After what, Jess?"

Jess groaned. "After Eric Hatcher asked her to the Homecoming dance next weekend."

Bill's face went pale. "Do you know what she said?"

"She said she'd think about it."

Bill just looked at him for a moment, looking very concentrated.

"Just talk to her tomorrow," Bill said with finality to his tone that made Jess shiver slightly. Then he was gone.

A few minutes later, Jack came up the stairs and sat next to his son on the bed.

"Something the matter?"

"Leslie hates me."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, that's about as likely as the sun forgetting to come up tomorrow morning. Listen, friendships can be hard. I don't know what happened, but you two have been very lucky this far. Everything that's happened has only strengthened your bond, but you might be coming to a point where you need to work at it a little more. You're both growing up. What you've got to decide is whether or not it's work worth doing."

Jess just sat there, his expression a little more softened.

"By the way, it is worth doing," Jack said. "If you were thinking otherwise, I think you need to give that sketch book of yours another look. That or you're a damned fool."

The next morning, it was raining and Leslie rushed toward him at the bus stop with her old red rain coat on. It was definitely too small for her now, but she didn't seem to mind. She had affirmed in her mind the night before that she would be giving Jess the cold shoulder for the whole day. Jess was using his dad's umbrella, and quickly rushed over and pulled her underneath of it. The bus ran late that morning, about five minutes late to be exact. In that time, Jess never noticed that he had put his right arm around his friend's shoulders and was pulling her protectively into his side. Leslie noticed, and any awkwardness between them from the previous day melted away. She found that she quite liked this.

They remained huddled together for the entire five minutes.

When the bus finally appeared, Jess kept her in the same position as they walked toward it. He released her, still not realizing what he had been doing, and let her get on while he folded the umbrella and then followed after her

"How was your dad's first day?" Leslie asked once he sat down, her earlier resolution forgotten.

"Good." Jess said. "Great, actually. He was in a really good mood all day." Leslie smiled at him, and rather than just enjoying the sight of that wonderful smile, something else happened. There was a strange fluttering feeling inside his stomach, like shaken nerves mixed with rising hope. He had heard the terminology before. Butterflies?

He spent the rest of the trip to school listening to Leslie recount, in humorous detail, what it was like to have Janice Avery at her house. She skipped around the long conversation the two had shared, something Jess didn't notice, but it was an entertaining tale none the less. Leslie Burke would be an incredible novelist some day.

The day went very smoothly, and my third period the sun was shining once again, filling Renick's class room with light. Half way through the period however, a messenger from the councilor's office appeared at the door and took Leslie away.

Leslie didn't come back for the rest of the period, and wasn't present in lunch, study hall, at their locker or on the bus ride home. Jess couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly worried about her. Leslie rarely ever missed a day of school, and she had never gone home part way through a school day in the time that he had known her.

When Jess got home, he could tell something was wrong. May Belle was standing on the porch, her expression grim as he approached. He did as he had done the day before and sprinted the rest of the way, this time for a very different reason.

"May Belle, what's wrong?" He demanded. May Belle didn't speak, she just pointed in the direction of the Burke place.

"Leslie's..."

May Belle started, but Jess's look of horror cut her off.

Deja vu swept over Jess as he gazed out, across the wide space between the two houses. Even through the trees and the bushes, he could see the flashing red and blue lights and, in some cases, small parts of police cruisers. Panic was the only word that could be used to describe Jesse's feelings right then. He had seen this before, somewhere. It was happening again.

He took off, sprinting for the dirt road faster than he ever had, faster than that day at the creek. Somehow, someone caught up with him just as Leslie's house came into perfect view. There were two police cars and a large sheriff vehicle parked in the Burkes' yard. The sight of it alone made Jess want to scream out in pain and agony. He couldn't suppress the feelings, because he felt like he was reliving something that should have happened years ago, but didn't, and shouldn't be happening now.

A strong arm grabbed hold of Jess from behind a started pulling him away. Jess tried to fight, but he couldn't. After a few seconds, he stopped fighting it and started screaming.

"Leslie!"

"Quiet, Jess." It was his father.

"Leslie!"

"Jess, be quiet!"

"Get off of me! She needs me!"

"You're right, son, she does." Jack was straining to keep his grip. "Now is not the time."

The meaning of his words didn't sink in for a few more minutes, after the incident was over. Instead, he started fighting against his father's grip even more.

"She can't be gone!"

Jack finally understood his son's actions and softened his grip a little. He didn't say another word, mostly because the alternative that Jess had presented before his mind was much worse that the real truth. Jess didn't know the facts. He kept his son moving at a steady pace, back toward the house, his own mind whirling.

They reached the porch and Jack demanded that May Belle go inside. She did, leaving the two Aarons boys alone.

"She's not gone, Jess," Jack said.

Jess calmed at this, and his father released him, pace a firm hand on his son's shoulder and looking him directly in the eyes.

"Bill Burke died this morning."


	7. Never Had to Look

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 7 – Never Had to Look  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

"Wow."

It was a very pleasant autumn evening. The sun had just dipped under the horizon, drowning the countryside in a light blue haze. Leaves were steadily falling from the many trees populating the Terabithian forest, most blown askew by the light breeze that drifted between the heavy elms, causing the limbs to sway ever so slightly.

"That's all I could say when they told me."

Leslie Burke sat in the high tower positioned directly above the tree house that she had helped build four years earlier. It was very small and much more confining than it had been all of those years ago, but it was, in a sense home. There wasn't a more comforting place that she could have been at that very moment, sitting with her legs hanging off the side, kicking intently, her hands folded on top of the boarded railing, supporting her resting head.

She wasn't talking to anyone in particular. She cast her gaze up at the sky, watching blissfully as the stars began to emerge. The wind, picking up more and more as the night was brought closer and closer, kissed her exposed arms and gently blew her dangling golden locks back from her head.

It had been two weeks now, since her father had been pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, yet Leslie felt herself living with a sense of surrealism. Somehow, it didn't seem like he was gone. Every time she walked through the Gold Room or came down from her room in the morning, bleary eyed and tired, she expected him to be there to smile and say something clever. Every time he wasn't there, and every time his absence hit her just that much harder.

Her mother had always been a strong woman, and she had proven just how strong she could be during the last few days. Leslie had only seen her cry once, and most of the time she was smiling, trying to help Leslie cope and get through the pain with only a hint of sadness in her eyes. Leslie knew why. Judy had lost her own father at Leslie's age, something she had never quite gotten over, and she obviously wanted to make sure that Leslie had an easier time with it.

The service had taken place back in Pennsylvania, at Bill's parents house. He had been cremated, as he had requested in his Will. Dozens of people from both sides of the family were present, all of them truly shocked and saddened by the man's death. His ashes were scattered by Judy, who had wanted Leslie to do it. Leslie didn't want to. She didn't want to have anything to do with her father on that day. The hadn't wanted to think about him or hear about him, and she just wished that the pain would go away.

He had been considered the "head" of the Burke extended family, mostly due to his success in life and how hard he worked to keep the family together during the hard times. Though things had been harder since the move to Lark Creek, Bill had still managed to keep everything under control. Now, he was gone, and in the family's natural hierarchy, he would be replaced. To Leslie, no one would ever take his place.

Bill hadn't spent a lot of time with his daughter, but she knew that he loved her. She knew that he was an extremely busy man, and when he did have a moment to spare, it was always a moment used to dote on his girl. There were things that she had never gotten to do with him, or to tell him. He would never be there to teach her to drive his car or see her grow up and get married. He would never be able to listen to her problems or spontaneously bring her ice cream while she was working diligently on her homework.

So many times she wished that the boy next door, someone who's name didn't come easily to her mind on that day, was there. He wouldn't talk to her. He would just sit there and listen, and understand. Just by being there, he would have made her mind a lot clearer and her future a lot brighter, but he had been unable to take the time off from school to go with her.

When they had gotten back to Lark Creek, it was getting late, and though she wanted very much to see Jess, she didn't want him to see her as a blubbering, emotional wreck. She considered avoiding him forever, because she was fairly certain that her mother was thinking about moving away. The thought of it repulsed her, and she just wasn't sure if she could find a way to cope if she lost both her father and her best friend in such a short span of time.

"You know, it's amazing," Leslie said, her eyes fixed on the night sky. "How a person can die, and how life just goes on without them." In her mind, tiny Terabithian warriors were gathered around, their wings rapidly moving as they levitated in the air, listening to the insight of their Queen and mourning the fall of a very good and very powerful man. The man who had been a part of the equation that had brought them their savior.

"I've never really thought about it before," she continued. "If I died when I fell, what would have happened? How would my family feel? What about Jess? Would he just find a new friend? Would they just carry my desk out of the class room at school so people would forget me, or would they leave it empty for people to stare at?"

Like most her age, Leslie spent her entire life living with the fantasy that she was indestructible. Even when she had been so badly injured, she never really considered the idea that she could have died, that there was any possible way that she might not have come out of that coma. Now, it had struck a little close, and she was suddenly very aware how short and delicate life was.

_Thump._

Leslie froze as she heard a noise beneath her. She hoped that Judy hadn't followed her into the woods, because she really didn't want her there. As far as she was concerned, Jess Aarons (and on two occasions, May Belle) was the only person that was allowed inside Terabithia.

"I knew I'd find you here."

She almost jumped out of her skin.

She peered over the railing and spotted Jess's shadowed figure standing beneath her, on the tree house landing. She'd entertained the idea of the noise she had heard being a person, but never thought that she was right.

"Jess?" Still a little dumbfounded.

"You all right to talk?" Jess asked. He was averting his eyes from her. He was wearing a heavy coat and he blew a fair amount of steam with each of his slightly frantic breaths. Leslie's mind had been going in so many different directions for the past two hours that she had hardly noticed how cold it had become. She was still wearing the dress she had wore to her grandmother's house earlier that morning, and the chill nipped right through the fabric. It was this that brought the realization as to why Jess wasn't looking up at her.

"Could you come down here?" He said after a few seconds. "I don't think we can both fit up there anymore."

She quickly stood up, losing her balance briefly, and then collected herself. She had kicked her dress shoes off earlier, sending them whirling to the base of the tree, so the descent from her perch would be quite a bit easier than the climb.

Jess smiled warmly at her as her feet hit the landing, but she couldn't return it. He sat down, resting his back against the hard outer wall of the tree house, his body reflexively jerking as he came in contact with the cold wood.

It seemed so much smaller now. She could remember all of the times that they had spent up here, chatting about this or that. Much of the time that they had spent getting to know one another had been spent in the tree house, both while building it and after its completion. She could still remember the conversations that they shared about their parents and about their lives.

Terabithia hadn't been a major part of their lives for almost two years, but aside from that nothing had really changed between them. They still saw each other almost every day. They still enjoyed every moment that they were together. He was still her King, and she tried her hardest to be his Queen. Even when they didn't visit the place or talk about it anymore, Terabithia was a part of the hearts and it always would be. It had changed both of their lives forever.

With this new host of memories briefly shutting out the bad events of the last few days, Leslie couldn't help but manage a small giggle as she took he place next to Jess on the hard wooden landing.

"What's so funny?"

There was a hint of amusement in his voice as well, his eyes regarding her with an inquisitive stare.

"Do you remember," she began, turning to meet his gaze. "When you said that I was good at building stuff? For a girl? Then I said-"

"You're pretty good at art, _for a boy_!" Jess interrupted, conveying his best Leslie impression by speaking in a high pitched voice, lurching his eye brows upward and spreading a thin smile across his lips once he was finished speaking.

"Okay, truce!" Leslie tried to do a Jess impression, but purposely made him sound much wimpier, like he was begging. She could only laugh once more at the expression on her friend's face.

She looked away from him and let her gaze fall to the dark wooden landing, the smile on her face slowly turning into a stern look of sadness and internal emotional strife. There was still a lot on her mind, a lot left to be sorted out, and she just wasn't sure how she would go about arranging it all herself.

"I heard you talking," Jess confessed after several minutes had passed in silence. Leslie sighed. Of course he had heard her. "Even as real as your imagination can make things, I think this is a situation better handled with a pair of real ears at your disposal."

She shivered lightly, unsure if it was the unpleasant autumn chill that had consumed the air, or just because Jess always seemed to know exactly what she wanted to hear, even when she didn't know herself.

"Lord, Leslie," Jess said, suddenly standing and removing the heavy coat he was wearing. Underneath, he wore only a red t-shirt, and beneath it a white undershirt, both very thin material. "That dress, you must be_ freezing_!"

Before she could object (and she later wasn't sure why she would have), he was sitting down next to her and wrapping the heavy coat around her. She finished the job for him and looked at him with gratitude, and suddenly felt like she was playing a part in every chick flick she had ever seen in her life, which of course amounted to only one.

"He was a good man, wasn't he?" Leslie asked. She wasn't sure where the question had come from, but for some reason she felt the need to ask it. She knew it was something Bill would have wanted to know if he had been allowed to ask someone a question before it happened, and if he really was watching over her right now, he would get his answer.

"Of course he was," Jess said, his tone soft, but giving the indication that anyone thinking otherwise was completely oblivious to what it meant to be a good person. "He was insightful, funny, hard working. He loved his family. My dad says that there's not a better kind of man than the one that loves his family. I reckon he's right."

"He thought the world of you," Leslie said, feeling that her father would want Jess to know that in return. Her friend just smiled at her.

They sat there for some time, neither speaking, neither moving. Leslie listened intently to the sounds of the night; the pace of Jess's breathing, crickets singing their brilliant song, the repetitious drum of her own heart beat, and the faint croak of the past summer's most vigilant locusts.

The silence went on for a very long time. Neither of them needed to speak. Both of them were in pain, Leslie from the death of her father and Jess from the same, with the addition of having to see his friend in such a way. Out of all of those emotions, they had nothing to talk about, at least not right then. Each knew what the other was feeling, and the sound of each other's breath and the rapid pacing of their hearts was enough to let both of them know that they weren't alone. What was important was the person beside them and the support that they offered just by being there.

"A seizure," Leslie snorted after an hour of saying nothing. "A seizure behind the wheel of his car. It's just not the way you see someone dying. I guess I always thought that he would live forever."

"In a perfect world," Jess said. "I don't think you should dwell on it, Leslie. Try to think about all of the good times, all of the wonderful things that you did together."

"The Gold Room," she said. "The day we painted it."

"Exactly."

"Better than what my Aunt said," Leslie wiped at her eyes. "She told me that I should try not to think about him. It sounded like she wanted me just to forget he ever existed."

Leslie caught Jess shaking his head out of the corner of her eye.

"Never forget," he said. She closed her eyes. "But don't think about this past week. You have to remember how much he loved you."

She couldn't argue with his words. It just sounded right to her. She had heard people say this, more to her mother than to herself, but hearing it from Jess just made a lot more sense somehow. She didn't know what kind of experience Jess had when he came to losing people he loved. His life before meeting her was something they never really discussed, but he seemed knowledgeable.

"You know all of those times I told you that you were stupid?" Leslie asked.

"How could I forget? You remind me every day."

"I take 'em back. You're pretty smart, Jess."

They spent a while longer talking. Actually, Leslie did all of the talking while Jess sat there, listening to her every word, his ears completely open to everything that she needed to get off of her chest. He didn't do the stereotypical guy thing and just pretend to listen. He did listen, and he did so very well. She was certain that there were times that he wanted to speak, to say something that would comfort her, but he didn't. He just let her talk and get it all out.

"When he came to my room after he took Janice home," Leslie started to confess. "I pretended to be asleep. I knew she would tell him what was going on. I just ignored him, thought that we would talk about it the next day when I had worked it out with you. When I wouldn't talk to him, he said good night and I didn't respond. I didn't even open my eyes to look at him. The last time I saw him, he was walking out the door with Janice!"

She was crying, something that she had managed to suppress in front of her friend. For her, crying was something that rarely happened, but was become quite frequent in the last few months. It was heartbreaking for Jess, and for anyone that knew her, to see her like this. Leslie didn't deserve to have to cry. She didn't deserve to feel the anguish that she was going through. She was far to good of a person, and so was her father. He didn't deserve to die.

"He was right there," she said, her voice cracking as she broke down against her best efforts. She was aware that she sounded angry at herself, but she just couldn't help it. "I could have said good night; I could have told him that he was the best dad ever. I ignored him. I had a chance to say what I can't say now, and I just _ignored _him!"

Jess grabbed hold of her and pulled her tightly, protectively against his chest. She buried her face into his shoulder turned into a shaking, sobbing mess. She'd cried since she heard that he was gone, but not like this. She hadn't allowed herself to do it, afraid that she would look weak, or like there was a situation that she couldn't handle. Now, she just couldn't control it.

"What kind of person am I?" She said, her muffled voice barely reaching Jess's ears. He didn't respond. "You must think I'm a mess!"

"I don't think that at all," Jess said solidly, moving his hand up to the back of her head to give it support that it didn't really need. "It's okay to cry, Les. You need to stop being so damned stubborn all the time and realize that being strong isn't about immunizing yourself to emotions. You don't need to be strong, it comes naturally to you."

She decided, at least for the moment, that he was right.

"He died and I never got to say good bye. I never got to say that I loved him."

"He knows, Leslie," Jess assured her, his free hand rotating in a circle on her back. "If anyone should be hurting right now, it's him. He'll never get to tell you how beautiful you look in your wedding dress some day, or how proud he is when you make your first million selling novels. But you know what?"

"What?" Leslie asked, raising her head to meet his eyes. Most of her tears had subsided for now.

"He'll be thinking all of those things," Jess said seriously. "And he'll know that you know what he's thinking."

It was after midnight when they climbed down from the tree house and crossed the bridge out of Terabithia, Jess noting out loud that he needed to replace a few boards when he got the time.

"Did you get my homework assignments?" She asked him after the bridge was a ways behind them.

"Yeah," Jess replied. "Me and my mom took care of it for you. You just need to take it easy."

Normally, Leslie would have freaked, but now it didn't seem to bother her. She was grateful, really.

"Homecoming's tomorrow night," Jess mentioned when they were almost to the dirt road. "You should call Eric and go. It might take your mind off of things, help you relax." She could tell that it wasn't a suggestion that he had really wanted to make.

"Like I would go with him," she said. "Just 'cause I said I would think about it didn't mean I actually would, Jess. I didn't need to think for a second."

Leslie was surprised when Jess didn't separate from her when they reached the branch off to her house. Instead, he kept walking with her. Once the house came fully into view, they both stopped and looked at it.

"I think mom wants to move away."

Jess's eyes went wide with horror, his expression displaying terror beyond words.

"I won't let her," Leslie said seriously. "She can't make me let go of my father and my best friend. It just wouldn't be fair."

"So you really weren't going to go to Homecoming with Eric Hatcher?" Jess said unexpectedly as they continued toward the house. It hardly seemed to be the topic of choice for the moment.

"It never crossed my mind."

"Why not?"

"He's just not what I'm looking for. I'm not interested."

"Four other guys asked you! What are you looking for?"

She sighed heavily, wondering what she should do or say. She actually found herself quite glad that the subject had been changed from her father's death. She chose her course of action quickly, both because she wanted to and because she had noticed her mother watching them from the doorway. It was the perfect thing to do.

She planted a kiss on his cheek, something she had never done before.

"I never had to look."

She walked off toward her house, leaving him behind, not even stopping to catch the look on his face. She spotted her mother quickly turning away and hurrying off toward the kitchen as she did so. Jess hadn't moved behind her. She couldn't she him or hear him, but she could feel his eyes watching after her. As smart as she knew, and had known, Jess Aarons to be over the last few years, she doubted that he would catch the meaning in her words.

He was there for her more than anyone else had ever been, even her father. He was, in her mind all she had left, and she wouldn't let her mother take him away as well. It was true. With age, she had never been able to develop romantic feelings for boys. She had only ever developed romantic feelings for her best friend, and Leslie Burke only had one best friend.


	8. The Green Room

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 8 – The Green Room  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

After what seemed like years, the barrier of time separating the months of October and November lifted itself. Those for whom the month had been filled with only tragedy and grief gladly moved on, the beginning of the new month somehow feeling as if they had crossed their first milestone on the way to recovery.

The first sign that the year was coming to a close came when the very first snow flake drifted lazily from the sky, followed by several billion more across the northern portion of the state. Snow was an uncommon sight around Lark Creek, and it predictably didn't stick around very long, the thin layer covering the ground on the ninth of November nearly gone by the next morning. This did not bode well for the students attending Lark Creek's public school system, who had been holding out for the possibility of a snow day.

The beginning of the new month brought more changes to the residence of Jess Aarons. Ellie - like Brenda before her - had decided to sprout some wings and leave the nest to build her own near Washington DC, where she had decided to enroll at a community college. It was welcome news to her parents, who were worried that their children had become far too dependent and self centered to ever leave the house. Jack, keeping the family supported with his new position, was quick to help his daughter get started. Despite her general flaws, he wanted to see her succeed in life.

For Jess, the Aarons house before and after his two older siblings had gone was like night and day. The day after Ellie had packed and gone, his father moved both May Belle and Joyce Ann's things out of the respective rooms that they had been occupying and doubled them up in Brenda and Ellie's old room. This meant a lot to Jess, who was practically euphoric with pride in the fact that he finally had a room all to himself.

Leslie finally returned to school a few days after she had been back in town. She received a lot of sympathy from the teachers, and quite a bit of special treatment that made Jess a little uneasy. He could tell just by looking at her that she didn't want it; that she just wanted to be treated like everyone else, and that being handled any differently than any other student was doing more to hamper her recovery from Bill's death than to help her cope.

Truthfully, the time Leslie spent with Jess was the only time that she was able to cope, because if there was one person that could possibly be more important to her than her father, it was him. At school, she just did what she could to make it through the day. At home, she had to deal with the constant fear that her mother would tell her to pack her things at any second.

At Jesse's house though, she was consistently treated as she always had been, at least since the family had come to realize just how strong the bond between her and their son really was. She was invited to stay for dinner a number of times, which she often accepted with gratitude. Jack had even taken her into the greenhouse and shown her around. (Jess later informed her that being shown to the greenhouse was a sort of informal initiation into the Aarons family) May Belle made sure to draw attention to yet another set of purple flowers that she was trying desperately not to kill, while Joyce Ann just kept up and repetitious chant of "Purple flowers!"

Something that meant more to Leslie than anything was that she was looked upon with pity or sympathy by Jesse's family, aside from the first time she had gone over since returning from Pennsylvania. Even then, they had only asked how she was holding up, and about the service and plans for the future. After that, they dropped the subject, though Leslie suspected that Jess was behind that. She was, as usual, correct. He had noticed her discomfort at school and immediately went to his parents about it. They understood, and the younger girls were far too young to dwell on death for any extended amount of time, so they never really brought up the subject.

At the start of the week before Thanksgiving Break, something was weighing heavily on Jesse's mind: Leslie's birthday, which was to take place on the following Monday. She had never been one to fuss over her own birthday, but her father most certainly did. Every year, he would spoil his daughter for an entire day, and Leslie would pretend to hate it. Jess could see right through her, though. She enjoyed it every single year, but now he was gone, and Jess wasn't sure what the significant difference in celebration would do to her. It was his plan to do what he could to make her birthday special.

The problem was that he wasn't sure what to get for her. She wasn't a materialistic girl in any sense. It was something he absolutely adored about her, but it didn't exactly help to make his decision any easier. He could be bought off with an art set, or anything for that matter, but she was much more complicated when it came to gifts. He wasn't like her; he typically didn't think outside of the box, and when he did, most people would probably be much happier if he crawled back inside and closed the lid.

Monday didn't go so well. Once he had been home for a few hours, his mother (and a very smug looking May Belle) announced that Alexandra would be staying with them for a week. Jess could only groan and bite his lip in contempt. It took him a few hours to come to the realization that it wouldn't be so bad, since Alexandra wouldn't be occupying his bedroom during that time, since it was now his.

The bedroom became something to be addressed on the following day, when Leslie made it a point to come over and inspect his current living space. She started by forcing him to play pick-up, going through the entire room and tidying it up. Then, she took the initiative and made him help her move his bed to the opposite corner of the room. He didn't understand why, but once they had finished, her wisdom ("It'll feel new and fresh, come on!") rang true, and for some reason it made the room look almost completely different.

After all of that, Leslie came to Jess with another idea: that the two of them should paint the room whatever color he wanted. Jess considered it for a few moments, and then came to the conclusion that his friend was a genius.

The approached Jesse's dad with the idea a few minutes later, which seemed to intrigue the older man. He loaded them into the truck and took them out to the old hardware store that he had used to work at.

"Hey Dave, it's Jack!" The younger looking of the two men behind the counter seemed to remember Mr. Aarons.

"Gotten enough of the pros, eh Jack?" The older man named Dave asked teasingly, though Jess could tell by his tone that it was all in good fun. "Come back to the minor leagues?"

"Watch it boys. I'm still your boss," Mr. Aarons said in a mock-serious tone, chuckling lightly.

Both of the men laughed, and Jess came to the realization that he had never been inside of the store before. Not once while his father had held the job there had he visited or even gone there for some shopping. It was one of those things that doesn't seem weird until you realize the implications.

"What is it you need?" The first man asked him casually as they stepped up to the counter.

"My son's here to look at some things," Jack informed them. "The paint and stuff are in the back, kids."

"Nice looking young lady with him," Dave commented once the two teenagers were out of earshot. "That the same boy you used to talk about? The shy little boy with no friends that you were always worried over?"

"That's Jess," Jack said with a matter-of-factly proud tone in his voice that would have made Jess blush if he'd been present.

"Looks to be doing well for himself," Dave went on. "Can't be having too many social problems with someone like that at his side."

"Leslie's been his best friend for years," Jack explained. "They're practically inseparable."

"Oh!" The older man exclaimed as realization dawned on him. "Is that the Burke girl? The one your son pulled up out of the creek!?"

"Yep," Jack said, his tone becoming even more proud. "Doctors said that if he's waited another few seconds to go in after her, the CPR probably wouldn't have worked. Saved her life."

This was the kind of small talk that always went on around the hardware store. It was a boring job, really, so all the men ever did was discuss their families and the various achievements – heroic or otherwise – that their children had managed to wrack up over the years. Despite having so many kids, the old store manager had never had much to talk about until Jesse's valiant rescue of a famous author's child became public knowledge. When Dave brought up the tragic death of Bill Burke (which, of course, had been pasted all over the local newspaper when it happened), Jack was suddenly glad he had sent Leslie off with Jess.

In the back of the store, Jess was having a very difficult time deciding what color he wanted to paint his room. Leslie kept suggesting random colors that didn't quite entice him (including yellow, purple, and red), and Jess just didn't have a particular color preference in mind. He pretended to be interested in red, if only to appease Leslie, and then actually considered a darker tone of blue or dark green.

In the end, he chose dark green, and he and Leslie grabbed two cans each of dark green paint. They carried them up to the counter and set them up on top, where Leslie suggested that a red carpet would go very well as a contrast to the color.

Jack sent them out to the truck with the paint, where they sat and waited for five minutes before the older Aarons emerged from the store with a very heavy looking red carpet hoisted up on one shoulder. Jesse's jaw dropped, and Leslie just gave him a victorious smirk.

Once everything was loaded up, they went back to Jesse's house. It was only just after four o' clock when they got back, so the two friends rushed hurriedly up the stairs with their paint and paint brushes from the greenhouse.

When dinner rolled around after five, they had gotten a single layer done on one wall, which wasn't bad considering that they had been forced to move a lot of junk aside and essentially trashed up the room all over again.

As dinner progressed, there was a soft knock on the front door of the house, which was very strange. The family didn't normally have any visitors aside from Leslie, and she was already present at the dinner table. Jess stood before his father could react to the disturbance and went to the door, the eyes of the family's patriarch following him the whole way.

When Jess opened the door, he was more than a little surprised at who was waiting. It was a girl, looking to be a year or two older than him, with long brown hair and a curious look about her features. He was immediately aware that he had met her before and spent a few brief moments trying to remember her name so that he wouldn't seem like such an idiot.

"Is Leslie over here?" She asked with her eyebrows scrunched in a weird fashion and her head tilted to one side.

"Uh," Jess said, still trying to buy himself some time.

"Who is it?" The gruff voice of his father was getting rapidly closer as he spoke. Suddenly he was next to him. "Oh, hello. Who might you be?"

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, perking up and offering her hand to Jesse's father. "I'm Alicia Morris. Leslie Burke's my little cousin."

"It's nice to meet you, Alicia. Jack Aarons." Mr. Aarons shook her hand quickly and lightly. "We're in the middle of dinner. Is there something I can do for you?"

Jess took the opportunity to slip out of the doorway and back into the kitchen, where Leslie already seemed well aware of who the person at the door was.

"What is _she _doing here!?" Leslie exclaimed quietly, aggravation occupying her tone. Jess could only shrug. Leslie seemed to have lost her appetite and let a long sigh escape her, blowing some of her abnormally long hair out of her face. Jess hadn't noticed until now that her hair had grown to shoulder length, and no longer hung above her neck, though it was still groomed in much the same fashion as it always had been.

After a few long (and intense, if you took Leslie's facial expression and unnerving behavior into account) moments, Alicia stepped into the kitchen, closely followed by Mr. Aarons and – oddly enough – Prince Terrien.

"Aunt Judy needs you to come home," Alicia stated in a snide, serious tone. It was apparent in Mr. Aarons' sudden change in facial expression that she had spoken much more politely with him just a seconds earlier.

Something about the entire situation was setting off Jess's internal alarm system, his gut instinct telling him to turn and walk out the back door of the house, and drag Leslie out with him if the opportunity presented itself. That particular warning went ignored, and Jess stood his ground, tentatively looking between his father and Leslie's cousin.

"Why don't you go on back, Alicia?" Mr. Aarons suggested. "I need to talk to these two." Alicia opened her mouth, obviously prepared to speak in defiance, which was something that Jess had never been prepared to do in the presence of his father. Mr. Aarons beat her to the punch, seeming to know exactly what her concern was. "And then I'll walk her home myself."

Alicia seemed to be content with the statement and turned to leave. Before she exited the living room, and ultimately disappeared from Leslie's line of sight, she turned and waved, and irritable look about her face.

"Oh, and take the mutt for a walk on your way back. He's been whining non-stop for, like, the last hour."

Once she was gone, Jess turned to address his father, who had just told Leslie's cousin that he needed to speak with them. Mr. Aarons regarded his gaze with curiosity before he seemed to realize what was going on.

Mr. Aarons just waved them off and told them to go upstairs, because he needed to do some thinking before he took Leslie home. Jess didn't ask any questions. He just grabbed hold of Leslie's arm and proceeded to guide her up the stairway and into the partially painted room. He let go when they were inside, and then watched his friend walk hurriedly to his bed and collapse onto it, her hands clasping the back of her head and a groan of frustration escaping from her.

"I take it you two aren't close?" Jess asked stoically. It wasn't a new perception by any means. Despite the show that Alicia had put on to make him – and the rest of the Burke family – believe otherwise, Jess had gotten an almost immediate impression that there was mutual disdain between the cousins. At the very least, Leslie didn't seem to care for Alicia, and the older, much more feminine of the two Burke descendants seemed to have no problems playing off that dislike.

"What gave you that idea?" Leslie asked with sarcasm.

Jess moved to sit next to her on the bed. As soon as he did, she made the effort to sit up and look down at her lap. He could see in her expression that she was either stressed or tired, probably a combination of both, and he wished that there was something that he could do to help her. It seemed like a family issue though, something which was vastly out of Jess's hands.

"I can't believe she's here," Leslie said quietly. "She's going to make my life more miserable than it already is. Her head's probably bloated now that her parents are, like, the heads of the family now."

Jess sighed and just sat there with her, resisting the urge to put his arm around her and pull her in close, just so he could tell her that everything would be fine. He needed to hear it as much as she did, because every passing moment seemed likely to bring the dreadful thought of Leslie's seemingly inevitable separation from him into reality.

"Why do you think she's here?" Jess finally asked.

"Who knows," Leslie said hopelessly. "Probably some stupid attempt by mom to help me cope with dad dying, or maybe she's trying to..."

Her face went suddenly red, with anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell, and Jess could practically feel her skin light up with goose bumps as she looked at him directly in the eyes. He wasn't sure what she was going to say, but the sight of her made him incredibly uncomfortable.

"Trying to what, Leslie?" Jess inquired. She sighed heavily.

"Keep me away from you."

If anything had made him feel insecure about everything that was happening around him, it was those words that Leslie spoke. He could hear the discomfort in her voice as she said it, and once her spoken syllables combined to create words inside his drastically overworked mental passage, he was graced by that same feeling of cold water being dumped over his head. The feeling was apparently accompanied by a visual effect as well, as Leslie took quick notice.

"I'm just speculating, Jess."

"Why would your mother do that?" Jess asked, his voice cracking in a controlled panic. "Why would she want to keep you from seeing me."

"I don't know," she said, rolling her eyes. Jess was reminded of the time when she had explained Janice Avery's predicament, her eyes wide with the same serious tone, her features taking on the stature of someone with a lot of weight on their shoulders. "Maybe she thinks it'll make the move easier for me. If she really thinks that that someone like Alicia can keep me from you, then I really don't know what's going through her mind!"

Silence fell over both of them again, just in time for the loud and clear sound of the front door opening and closing. Both of them moved quickly for the window, peering out to find out who had entered or exited the house.

They could clearly see Jess's dad, PT in tow, bounding off toward the dirt road that separated the neighbors' houses. Jess told Leslie to stay put and hurried down the stairs. His mother had already cleared the kitchen table, May Belle and Alexandra now sitting there and doing their individual homework assignments.

"Where's dad going?"

"The Burk—err, next door."

"He kinda forgot Leslie..."

"Just go keep her company and let dad worry about dad." There was a lot of finality to her tone, and Jess didn't care to contest it. It always annoyed him when she said "dad" in reference to her own husband. It was just one of the little things that got on his nerves. Even still, he just gave it a mental shrug and hiked back up the stairway.

After a little while of waiting around, Jess and Leslie went back to painting the room, enjoying themselves significantly more than they had in the past hour or so. It didn't take long for the focus to shift from painting the room to seeing just how much of a mess they could make. Leslie, at one point, ended up chasing Jess around the room with a paint brush dripping of green. Both were laughing uncontrollably, even Jess who definitely didn't want any part of his body to be painted green.

Finally, as they both began to wind down, Jess turned on Leslie as she approached with the brush and snatched it from her unsuspecting grip. He held it firm, and then lightly slapped it against her cheek, leaving a splatter of green there. He tried hard to stifle his own laughter, but that quickly changed to trying hard to find the words to apologize. She looked at him, her eyes seeming horrified. Then, just as some form of guilt was beginning to manifest itself within Jess, she grabbed hold of his arm and forcibly tackled him to the ground.

Straddling his stomach, she snatched the paint brush back from his hand, which had relaxed its grip in surprise of the situation. Before he could react, Leslie ran the brush from his hairline to his chin, leaving a long streak of green in its wake. She then tossed the brush aside and put her hands on her hips, staring down at him with eyes full of amusement and a smile of satisfaction.

Jess could only look up at her with the same look she had given him moments before; one of surprise. It didn't take him long to figure out a way to gain an advantage in the situation. Despite having her hands on her hips, she had left a space uncovered. Her arms arched around the sides of her abdomen, allowing the plan that came to mind to be executed.

He raised his arms as quickly as he could and attacked his friend with the fury of his fingers, sending her to the floor next to him. She was already laughing as hard as he had ever heard her laugh in the time that he had known her, but he didn't relent. He kept at it, and soon she was practically begging him to stop and her eyes were watering over. Her hands were on his arms, trying hard to push and pull them away, but her own squirming betrayed her, distracting her muscles from the task she was attempting to present before them.

"Say uncle," Jess said with amusement in his voice. He was trying hard not to burst into a laughing fit himself, knowing full well that if he allowed it to happen, his grip would relax and Leslie would easily turn the tide of the battle back on him. Despite her somewhat 'scrawny' arms, the girl was pretty strong.

After a minute or two, Jess gave up his assault, and Leslie just laid there, a smile on her face, breathing hard and trying to recover from the sudden attack. She reached up and punched him lightly on the arm.

"Jerk," she said, though it was obvious in her voice that she really didn't mean it as an insult.

Jess stood and then sat down on his bed just as his father came into the room. He looked between the two of them curiously for a moment, obviously perplexed by the streak of green paint prominent on his son's face, and the sight of the breathless girl laying on the floor.

"She painted my face," Jess said. "I had to do something."

Mr. Aarons chuckled.

"You started it!" Leslie exclaimed accusingly, but with amusement.

Mr. Aarons took a seat next to Jess on the bed and motioned for Leslie to join them. She did, and they began a long talk. Jack had gone to Leslie's house and had basically interrogated her mother, questioning her motives for moving away and for having Alicia come and stay for a while. It was as Leslie suspected. Judy had admitted that Alicia was something of a ploy to attempt to separate her daughter from Jess. He had been forward, probably even invasive, when questioning Leslie's mother, but ultimately it turned out for the better.

"If your mother keeps her word, and I'm sure she will," Jack said. "You aren't going anywhere, and Alicia's going back home by the end of the week."

"What did you say to her, dad?" Jess asked. Judy Burke had been far from being his favorite person in the world through out the last few weeks, but he was still very afraid that his father had been too blunt or offensive.

"To change her mind? Nothing." Jack's tone was firm and truthful. "She said something, expanded upon it herself while I listened, and came to her own conclusion. I think that's all she really needed; someone to talk to and sort things out verbally."

Jess felt a swelling of pride for his old man and just gave him a firm nod and a smile. For Leslie, that wasn't enough. She got up and lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Mr. Aarons' neck.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Aarons!"

"_Jack_, Leslie."

"Thank you so much, _Jack_!"

All three of them laughed.


	9. The Brawl

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 9 – The Brawl  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

Jess Aarons sighed heavily, and then groaned lightly, earning a few disgusted looks from all around the room. His attention was not where it was supposed to be at that moment. He was instead focused on the far more interesting and infinitely more entertaining rotation of his mechanical pencil.

He gazed upon the slick black writing utensil with much diligence, subconsciously making it a personal competition for him to see just how many full rotations his fingers could work to complete before his eyes slammed themselves shut, deprived of moisture. On this particular attempt, he counted two thousand and thirty-eight rotations, just fourteen shy of his current record for the day.

Growing bored of boredom itself, Jess decided to look up at his teacher – Mr. Plumley – and try to decipher what exactly it was that he had been missing over the course of the past half hour or so.

He found the balding man staring back at him from the front of the class with an expectant look about him. After further examination, Jess discovered that the majority of the class was also looking at him, leaving the teenage daydreamer questioning whether he had been asked a question or if he had been called out for not paying attention. In either case, he hadn't heard anyone address him.

Jess looked around for a few more seconds, wishing someone would just say something and give him some kind of clue as to what he was supposed to do or say.

"Karl Marx," Jess answered lamely.

Mr. Plumley looked at him in disbelief, then glanced down and gave the sheet of paper he had been pulling his questions from a similar look of incredulity. The other students in the room were giving him awkward looks too, but all of them quickly went back to their normal positions, awaiting the final few minutes of this boring lecture.

"Right then," Mr. Plumley said, trying to regain his composure and shrug off his surprise at the correct answer.

The class ended early, as had all classes that day, due to the 'student reward program,' which served as an incentive to keep students from skipping school. Such incidents had become a problem in Lark Creek over the past few years, so those who had it in them to miss less than four days of school every trimester were rewarded with a faculty-chosen event at the end of the term. For this trimester, it was a movie. A faculty-chosen movie.

Jess packed up his books and went straight for his locker, spinning the combination lock as fast as his fingers would allow. He dumped his books into the bottom of the locker, ignoring the partially exposed loose papers of his Geometry binder, which folded at awkward angles as they were crushed by his two heavy text books.

As he was about to close the locker door, Jess glanced up at the second-to-highest shelf within and noted how orderly the books were kept. The obvious wear of the Relationships text book contrasted terribly with the new reflective surface of the Social Psychology tome. It didn't matter somehow, as the perfect symmetrical stacking of the two books easily drew attention away from the faults of the books themselves. Sitting on top of both of them was a three-ring binder, very similar to his own, but without a single corner of paper protruding from its rim.

His gaze then shifted upward, to the top shelf, which his locker partner always left vacant for him, though he never actually used it.

Jess sighed and bent down, heaving the books back out with feigned effort. He opened the notebook and quickly snapped each of the loose papers into the ring bindings, and then neatly stacked the text books underneath of it. He placed all three on the top shelf, the stack fitting perfectly, and then smiled in spite of himself at the sight.

"Good job."

Jess turned, startled by the sudden sound of someone speaking, even though the noise of the busy hallway was as loud and obnoxious as ever.

"When did you get here?"

"About two minutes ago," Leslie said, shrugging. Her eyes drooped lazily and her matter-of-fact tone took him by surprise. "You didn't seem to notice."

"Maybe if you'd said something," Jess replied, grabbing hold of the locker door.

"And embarrass you out of being spontaneously organized? I think not," Leslie said teasingly, her expression suddenly alive with enthusiasm. The contrast was startling. "Move, I need to put my stuff in there."

Jess stepped back, letting his friend have at the locker. He watched over her shoulder as she quickly replaced her Geometry book with her Social Psychology one. She then turned to face him, and quickly stepped aside to let him close the door.

"No math homework?" Jess asked sarcastically. "Lucky."

The blonde girl just snorted.

The auditorium was relatively full by the time they got there, the various seats filled to the brim with their peers and upperclassmen. Despite the fact that most used indoor voices, the students' chatter echoed deafeningly through the large room.

Jess and Leslie spent a few moments searching for a place to sit. There were a few vacant areas, though most of them didn't present an appealing view of the stage front. Both of them were prepared to resign themselves to standing along the back wall of the room when someone called for them from the first three rows. Jess could make out no more than the person's outline in the dim light, but as the two of them moved closer, they could see clearly who it was.

"Hey, come sit with us!" Willard Hughes suggested once he was sure that he had their attention.

They approached, and it didn't take Jess long to notice that there was only one vacant seat amongst the senior quarterback and his friends. He looked to Leslie, unsure of whether Willard wanted him or Leslie to take the seat. When he saw Leslie looking back at him, her face a bit flustered, he understood that he had his answer.

Jess just nodded lightly, as if to tell Leslie that he understood, and then started away. Leslie grabbed hold of his wrist and stopped him, turning and firmly addressing the senior. Her gaze was unwavering.

"There's only one seat," Leslie stated plainly, neither a question nor a complaint.

"Sorry," Hughes said. "I'm sure there's plenty of seats up in the balcony for your friend."

Jess felt his blood begin to boil at this kid's tone. He had never been Willard Hughes' biggest fan. In elementary school, the pompous, egotistical jerk sat somewhere between Scott Hoager and Janice Avery on his 'avoid' list. His general tone and attitude at this moment were unnerving, causing Jess to unconsciously clench his fist, something he had rarely felt the need to do whenever he was with Leslie.

"It's okay," Jess said quietly so that only the girl next to him could hear. He just wanted to get this over with. "I can find somewhere else to sit. You go ahead."

Leslie gave him an incredulous glance, her eyebrows squashed together and her face screwed up in a look that clearly told him that she believed that he was out of his mind. Truthfully, in a way he was, his instinct taking over his actions in order to remove him from this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible. He wanted desperately to move, to leave and not look back, but Leslie still had a firm grip on his wrist, and he couldn't rightly leave her there on her own.

"You gonna have a seat or not, babe?"

The second speaker was heavily masked in the shadows cast over them by the auditorium's balcony, but through squinting, Jess was able to discern his identity. It was Dennis Patrick, and Jess found himself inadvertently throwing a mental contrast of a certain event earlier in the year and the boy's demeanor toward his best friend now.

Jess found himself revolted by his earlier proclamation that Leslie should go ahead and sit with these boys. He managed to wrestle his arm from Leslie's waning hold, and then grabbed hold of hers with the very same arm.

Leslie was obviously very uncomfortable as well. She did little to keep Jess from leading her away, through the doors in the back of the room, up a set of stairs, and out onto the balcony.

Few used the balcony on occasions such as this, though it was a popular spot on the nights of school plays and the rare town gathering. At a student-only school event, the balcony was often regarded as a place for 'couples' to sit together. That particular affirmation of territory was quick to gain the attention of the school faculty, which ultimately led to a significant increase in supervision. This resulted in a heavily vacated part of the auditorium, and absolutely no supervision, which the student body apparently failed to notice.

Jess and Leslie found their seats up front, close to the railing. The movie had already started, the large projection screen currently suspended over the stage coming to life. It showed some boy standing up on a towering structure overlooking a pond, with other boys (and a few girls) below him, cheering him on.

Jess was having a hard time paying attention to the movie until the boy plummeted – pushed by one of his supposed friends – into the dark water. A flurry of bubbles came to surface, giving the usual Hollywood implication that something had gone wrong.

What followed during the next hour was one of the most effective chick flicks in a decade or more, but Jess Aarons hardly cared. He had no guy friends with which to act macho and pretend that he needed massive explosions and bullets hurling through the air in order to enjoy a movie. Instead he sat there, enjoying the movie for what it was.

That enjoyment was quickly dashed as whispered voices reached his ears. Three boys were marching down the aisle separating the two tiers of seats on the balcony. They took their seats directly behind the two best friends, and there was no doubt in Jess's mind of who at least two of them were.

"Do it," Jess heard one of them whisper. "Don't be a wuss, just do it!"

"You do it," another voice said. This one came from directly behind Jess, who was listening intently.

"You're behind him, dumbass."

Jess looked to Leslie, who seemed to have picked up on what was going on behind them and could only roll her eyes to show her disdain for whatever the three boys were planning.

One moment, Jess had been looking at Leslie, and the next he found himself struggling as someone grabbed hold of both of his arms from behind. His attacker locked his arms tightly against Jess's neck to keep him from moving.

Jess immediately caught sight of Willard Hughes leaping over the row of seats and placing himself on the other side of Leslie. Dennis Patrick was already fast at work, his hands shooting over her shoulders and going slightly lower, stopping short of their obvious destinations. Jess fought harder against the imposing grip of the boy behind him.

Leslie, too, began to squirm around, swatting and grabbing for Dennis's hands. He hadn't anticipated this at first, but quickly began jetting his hands around the upper part of her body, trying to be unpredictable in his movements. All he was really doing was frustrating Jess even more, and had this lasted much longer, the boy likely would have been overpowered by Leslie herself.

Having had enough of this, Jess stopped resisting his assailant, leaned his head forward, and sank his teeth into the back of one of the constricting arms. Both arms immediately retracted, and Jess was on his feet, grabbing hold of Leslie and pulling her up and away from the sick amusement of these sorry excuses for Neanderthals.

All three boys were laughing, even Scott Hoager, who was busy nursing his wounded arm. Jess considered his own handiwork and, rather than being satisfied, left himself a mental note to brush his teeth twice as long before bed that night.

He let Leslie go, and both of them walked out of the room and into the hallway. Jess knew that they were going to be followed before he could even hear the hurried footsteps of the boys approaching them. He had no desire to run and continue to embarrass himself. Something inside Jesse Aarons wanted nothing better than to beat down all three of these deranged sickos, or be beaten down while trying. Leslie didn't deserve to be man-handled like that. No one did.

"What's wrong, _Jesse_?" Scott Hoager mocked as they came into the hallway to meet them. "You look a little pissed off."

"I wonder why that is?" Dennis Patrick mused.

"Dennis didn't mean to grope your girlfriend," Willard Hughes began. "We all just had a talk, and decided that it was high time that you did some _sharing_."

Jess wasn't even aware of it when he growled in protest, drawing his arm back for a punch. The blow was intercepted by Willard, who was more than adept at dealing with this sort of situation. This did little to calm Jess down, but he quickly backed up to avoid being subjected to the tormenting nature of this particular trio.

"Come on, Jess," Willard taunted. "It doesn't matter how hard you can hit if you can't even hit me!"

Jess knew the kid was right. He wasn't practiced at all in any form of combat, and knew all too well that only bad could come out of the entire situation.

"Come on, man!" Hoager said snidely. "Do something! Show your girl you're a man! If you're not gonna share, do something to stake claim!"

Jess, blood beyond the boiling point in unkempt rage, lashed out furiously against Hoager. The boy was taken by surprise, not at all expecting any kind of resistance from Jess at this point. Jess missed a few poorly aimed strikes, and then sent his knee upward, solidly connecting with the space between Hoager's legs. He immediately stumbled back and fell into a pained crouch against the wall.

This turn of events drove Willard Hughes into action. He fixed a well aimed punch on Jess's face, and then stood back, laughing in self-centered victory.

Dennis Patrick also went into a laughing fit, something which he shouldn't have done. Leslie laid him out with a single blow, anger evident on her normally lively and cheerful features.

Willard's sense of victory was also short lived when he turned to address a tapping on his shoulder. He was met with a five-knuckle response from one Janice Avery, and then harshly shoved away by Eric Hatcher. No one had seen them enter the fray.

"You're a real pal, Eric," Hughes said to his comrade-in-jersey. "Your loyalty astounds me."

"So does your ability to use words as big as 'loyalty.'" Eric shot back. "'Astounds,' even. Have you been paying attention in English, Willard?"

"Typical Jess Aarons. Always has to have girls protect him," Hoager remarked.

"Looks to me like he did a number on you," Leslie shot, snidely.

All three of the boys – albeit Hoager a bit stiffly – turned and marched down the stairs, throwing loathing glances back at the four of them.

"You have to go to someone before they do," Eric said, turning to face Jess. "They'll warp the story real bad."

Jess, still nursing his rapidly bruising eye, nodded lightly.

Renick, as the new assistant principal, was who they all had to deal with, and things weren't quite as bad as they seemed. Out of courtesy, Jess and Leslie left Eric Hatcher and Janice Avery out of the story. Jess was suspended, and the three other boys faced possible expulsion due to the way in which they initiated the brawl. Leslie had managed to escape suspension due to Jesse's incessant claims that she was simply present, not involved.

When Jack arrived at the school to retrieve his son, he wasn't in the least bit happy – until he was informed why the fight even broke out. Then, he was absolutely furious. The normally calm and collected man made a scene, and the equally calm and collected assistant principal took it all in, evenly stating that it was out of his hands. School policy required that all participants be suspended for a minimum of three full school days.

Once everything was cleared up, the student assembly was over and most of the student body had been at home for an hour. Jess sat outside Renick's office, waiting on his dad who had gone to take a bathroom break. He was very aware of conversation taking place in the assistant principal's office, but he paid it no mind, at least until raised voices were used.

"But _why_!?"

Jess thought at first that it was Leslie's mother yelling, but she had taken her daughter home over twenty minutes earlier. Regardless, his ears were fully attentive.

"I have my reasons," Renick's voice said, barely audible.

"You never should have come back," said the female voice, sounding both angry and frightened. "What were you expecting? What did you think would happen?"

Jess shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had never been one to pry into other people's business, and he was very aware that he was probably hearing something that he shouldn't be hearing.

"You're making things too complicated, Ju-"

"No, you are!" The female voice shrieked again. Jess found himself glad, for the sake of his psychology teacher, that no one besides him was around to hear any of this. "Have you been back there? Without her? Was it what you imagined?"

"Without _her_?" Renick questioned, still very calm. "I don't-"

"She's gone," the pained voice said, this time easily muffled by the thin door due to her suddenly soft tone. "She's gone, she's never coming back, and you have to come to terms with that!"

"I came to terms with that a long time ago."

"No you didn't! If you had, you wouldn't be here now!" The speaker seemed on the verge of tears. "Valarie is dead! She's gone! Your presence here just makes things too complicated! I wish you just would have gone away when I told you to during the summer!"

Jess stood up and walked away, as far away as he could. He didn't feel right listening in on this conversation, which was obviously personal. Something did click his mind however, and he made a mental note to ask Leslie about it later.

Wasn't Valarie the name of the girl in the old diary?

- - - - -

Jess was very surprised when he wasn't punished, and was even more so when his father complimented him on "standing up for his friends" and "handling the situation like a man." Though his father's attitude had changed quite a bit since money had become a non-issue in their family, Jess still got a warm feeling whenever this man complimented him.

One good thing came out of the suspension, which was the idea that Jess would have the entire weekend to figure something out for Leslie's birthday, as well as Monday to set things up if need be. He honestly still had no idea what he was going to do, and once everyone was done fussing over the prominent black bruise under his right eye he found the time to approach May Belle about the topic.

"I don't know," his younger sister responded as she closed her sixth grade history notebook. "Get her some flowers! Or maybe you could take her out to a movie!"

"Like a date?" Jess asked suspiciously.

"Uh, sorta."

"May _Belle_..."

"Okay, okay fine!" May Belle said, obviously aggravated with his rejection of her idea. "Go ask dad. I'm sure he has some power tools you can give her."

Jess gave his sister an incredulous glance and left her to her homework.

Leslie came to visit fairly late, the clock chiming half past ten. Her mother had, of course, been fussing over her as well, given the circumstances under which the fight earlier that day had broken out. She came over with a tray of cupcakes and a perky "thank you" from her mother. Obviously, it took more than a few jerks sexually harassing her to kill the girl's spirit.

They went out onto the front porch, sitting together on the top step. After complaining for a few moments about her mother fussing over her, Leslie ironically began fussing over Jesse's 'battle wounds.'

"Does it hurt?"

"No, it tickles," Jess lamely replied. "It'll take more than a black eye to keep me down."

"So, something like two black eyes, then?" Leslie remarked slyly, her eyes cocked in his direction. Jess looked at her in amazement, and then let a grin break out across his face.

"So," Jess said, changing the subject, leaning back on his elbows. He'd heard enough about Scott Hoager, Willard Hughes and Dennis Patrick for one night. "Your birthday's coming up. Anything in particular you want?"

Leslie let her gaze drift to the night sky, as it always did when they were outdoors after dusk, or even near a window for that matter. Her eyes sparkled whenever she did this, the clear reflection of the stars shining brightly in her striking eyes. Despite their obvious beauty, Jess could plainly see sadness in her gaze. Sadness that would no doubt take a very long time to heal.

"I want more nights just like this," Leslie said after some contemplation. "Before winter, I mean. It might not snow much, but every thing's always so cloudy and cold. These nights remind me just how small I am, and what's still out there to explore."

"There's plenty out there," Jess objected. "Just look at Terabithia."

"In our imaginations, yes," the girl replied, still looking skyward. "But where's the real sense of adventure these days? The sense of discovery? The global map has been filled in. There's nothing left in this world to find. I think I can blame technology. People may love it, but it's made the world a lot more dull."

Jess smiled to himself. Only Leslie would talk about things like this.

"I want to experience what people like Christopher Columbus experienced when he found America," she continued.

"I guess you could try to find Atlantis, or maybe the Loch Ness Monster," Jess mused.

"Very funny," Leslie chimed, rolling her eyes.

A few minutes later, May Belle joined them, forcing herself between the two friends as they sat and enjoyed each other's company. Neither of them minded too much, given that if there was ever a third person in the friendly equation, it was definitely Jess's younger sister.

"Sometimes I play connect the dots," May Belle announced randomly. Jess gave her a funny look, but Leslie seemed to understand.

"What do you see?" the blonde asked seriously.

"I made a sail boat once," May Belle went on. "I tried to make you and Jess one time, but the stars weren't cooperating. The left side of Jess's face was missing, and the heart was broken in two."

Leslie laughed. Jess glared.

_"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."_

_That _particular memory from years ago brought Jess's thoughts back to the night Leslie had returned from Pennsylvania. They were, technically, sitting in a tree. The latter part of the song however, had not occurred. For once, Jess wasn't so sure that he was repulsed by the idea of it happening, either.

"You two are oblivious," May Belle said in frustration. She stood up with a huff and went back inside the house.

Jess watched after her for a moment, and then locked eyes with Leslie. They both just shrugged.

_She's still as adorable as ever, _Jess thought.

"Yeah, she is," Leslie said, obviously referring to May Belle.

Jess looked around urgently, and suddenly became aware that he had spoken his earlier thought aloud.

"You know," she said as Jess pulled himself up into a sitting position. "We're getting a little too old for Terabithia. I mean sure, you're never too old for your imagination, but the whole jumping around and fighting invisible squirrel monsters thing? Maybe it's time to give it up...or pass it on."

"Pass it on?"

"Maybe to May Belle," Leslie clarified, nodding her head toward the house. "And maybe Joyce and Alexandra."

"You really think so?" Jess asked.

"Yeah," she said, standing up. "I should probably get home before mom sends _Alicia _out after me. God, I can't wait until she goes home."

Jess snickered, but was shocked out of the act when Leslie leaned forward and placed a kiss not far beneath his right eye, where a bruise was rapidly taking form.

"Don't go picking fights with anyone," she told him as she started away. "Take a rest. You've earned it."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Jess called after her, both a question and a statement.

"Always."

Jess smiled and watched her until she was out of sight, her far away form vanishing behind some brush as she strode up the path to her house.

Since the accident, seeing Leslie every day and knowing that she was all right had become very important to Jess. She rarely ventured off on her own anymore without first telling him, so in his mind, he know he would indeed see her the next day.

* * *

**I'm going to be throwing credits at the end of every chapter from now on, especially in light of Foster Marsh doing my editting work now. Thanks a bunch. I may go back and throw some credits into my previous entries as well, so if you're at all interested in whether or not you're mentioned, stay tuned.**

**Credits:**  
NarnianMelody -- Inspiration  
Foster Marsh -- Beta/Editting (Great work!)  
ModTom -- Keeping me in line  
Warner Bros. Pictures _A Walk to Remember_ -- The movie playing in the auditorium


	10. Panic

**Stars Over Terbithia  
****Chapter 10 – Panic  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

When Jess awoke on Saturday morning, he gazed sleepily around, something seemed out of place. His alarm clock read seven-thirty – his usual waking time on weekends – but the room was so dark, and there was some strange and repetitive sound droning on and on.

Groaning, he sat up and look toward the window, and quickly realized what was so off about everything. Rain droplets beat harshly against the thick pane and the outside sky was covered by one massively depressing gray cloud. Briefly, he considered going back to sleep at the sight of the dreary November morning, but a clap of thunder stole the notion and he skipped laboriously down the wooden stairs.

The day was in its typical weekend swing by now, with Jess's mother finishing up breakfast, May Belle and Joyce Ann sitting expectantly at the table, and Mr. Aarons wandering in from the living room with the newspaper to grab his coffee and join them.

Jess took his usual seat and poured himself a glass of orange juice from the carton on the table. The four of them sat there quietly until breakfast was ready, when they were joined by Mrs. Aarons and a considerable meal of eggs and bacon.

"Mary," Mr. Aarons addressed, looking strangely at the newspaper. "Looks like they're putting ol' Frank on trial. They got 'em yesterday."

Mrs. Aarons leaned sideways to look at the paper, he face also distorted.

"Wow," she said when she straightened and started back in on her own breakfast. "That's been a long time coming, right there."

"I'm surprised they got the bastard," Mr. Aarons said, his eye brows raised as he folded the paper up and laid it on the counter behind him. "But now we've got to worry about who replaces him."

Jess gave his parents a curious glance, and seeing that they had nothing more to discuss on the topic, went back to his food.

The rest of the morning, Jess helped his father and May Belle tidy up the greenhouse. It actually hadn't been used much since Mr. Aarons had gotten his new job, but since the amount of work had been cut down considerably with the hiring of new deputy managers, the man was able to relax some and get back to his hobby.

That's what it really was. As much as the gruff man used to preach that the plants grown in the greenhouse were part of the family's livelihood, it was also a hobby of his. There was a particular sparkle in his eyes once they had finished the work and the greenhouse looking better than ever.

By noon, the downpour hadn't stopped, and Jess began to feel himself slipping into a state of depression that he always seemed to take on when he woke up to days like this. He did his best not to let it affect him and joined his family in watching the television for the first time in a very long time.

The knock at the door surprised everyone, but Jess was the one to get up and hurry off to answer it. Leslie normally came over much earlier in the day if she came over at all on Saturdays, and though he expected it to be her, he wasn't at all surprised when it wasn't. He was however, surprised at who it was.

Mr. Renick, hair plastered to his scalp and umbrella held high, was standing in the door way. His eyes lit up when he saw Jess standing before him and he smiled warmly at the sight of his student.

"Jess!" Renick exclaimed. "How's that shiner?"

The boy gave him an incredulous glance before he realized what the man was talking about. He had been so busy all morning that he had hardly remembered the events of the past day, and now that it was brought to his attention, the pain in his eye became more prevalent.

"Fine," Jess stammered, still surprised to see one of his teachers at his front door. "D-do you want to come inside? You're getting all wet."

Renick stepped inside and wiped his feet on the rug. Once he had closed his umbrella, Jess's father came in to see who was at the door. Also expecting Leslie, Jess's father was taken a bit by surprise.

"Mr. Renick. This is a pleasant surprise."

Mr. Aarons' tone was sincere, but a little condescending.

"Tom," Renick said. "Or am I not the little boy who used to milk Miss Bessie every morning?"

Mr. Aarons smiled warmly, now seemingly more glad to see the assistant principal of his son's high school. It was strange. The two suddenly seemed like old friends.

"It was a long time ago," Mr. Aarons said. "I wasn't sure you remembered."

Renick chuckled. He knew Jack Aarons well enough to know that the man rarely tried to pry into anyone's memory if they showed no apparent recollection. It was likely that, if Renick had never made this visit, their prior relationship might have never been addressed.

"Come inside, Tom," Mr. Aarons invited. "Have a seat on the couch. Mary will be happy to see you and I'm sure she'll have all kinds of questions.

The visit was predictable to Jess. All of the kids were expected to stay in the room and listen as the boring adults droned on and one about their lives, telling old stories. Renick went in depth about his departure from Lark Creek and everything he had done since then.

Jess learned that the man had lived in Lark Creek for three years earlier in his life, between the ages of twelve and fifteen. He had lived with Andrew and Samantha Perkins, who had owned the house next door ten years earlier, before it became the subject of frequent arrivals and departures of new owners before the Burkes settled in. During his time in the small community, Renick had struck up a friendship with a girl his age.

The topic of Renick's friend was mentioned only briefly, both adult men in the room suddenly looking very uncomfortable. The subject was changed by Jess's mother, who began the boring drone again by talking about the "dreadful weather."

This topic wasn't so much boring as it was distressing to Jess. He had been trying hard the entire day to keep his mind off of the weather, instead trying to focus hard on the details of the conversation. The reminder of the dreary state of the outside weather sent him spiraling back into a depressed state of consciousness.

From that point on, the conversation continued to be cheerful and good natured, but Renick kept stealing curious glances at Jess every few seconds. Jess wished he would stop.

Over the next few minutes, the voices of the people around him started sounding muffled, as if all of them were speaking from within a tunnel. The thoughts in his head, any attempt made to make sense of the situation, were clouded and just as confusingly restrained.

Without realizing it, Jess moved his hand quickly to his chest, aggressively grabbing a handful of his shirt. He could tell then that he was breathing and exhaling at an alarming rate, and was now very aware of why it was that his teacher continued to give him progressively concerned glances.

Mr. Aarons seemed to be embarking on some long tangent, the contents of which Jess could not discern. Thirty seconds passed, and still Jess was hyperventilating, his mind in a whirl, completely unable to focus on anything aside from a familiar and profound sense of panic that had suddenly taken over his senses.

A few more awkward glances later, Renick interrupted Mr. Aarons and moved quickly to sit next to Jess. The young teacher's hand clasped the teenager's shoulder tightly.

May Belle finally seemed to notice the distress and had jumped up. Joyce Ann, always one to mock her big sister, did the same, but eventually did seem to realize that something wasn't quite right with her older brother.

"Jess."

Renick's tone was firm and confident, and it was that that helped focus Jesse's hearing.

"Jess, listen. You're having a panic attack. Just breathe, and wait it out, and remember that there is nothing wrong with you physically."

Jess could feel the sweat trickling down his forehead. The rate at which he was breathing was startling to him, but even more so to those around him, as Jess himself wasn't quite able to focus and didn't really hear the sounds of his own rapid hyperventilation.

Jess's mother and father could do little other than watch, and the entire family was told more than once that there was nothing they could do for him.

After what seemed like at least a half hour, Jess snapped out of it, his rate of breathing normalizing and his heart quickly fading to its normal, soft spoken rhythm. In the end, the attack had lasted only ninety seconds.

"You all right, Jess?"

His father's voice sounded refreshingly clear, and almost disturbingly close when compared with what he had been experiencing. He simply nodded, the overabundance of oxygen he had taken in during the episode causing him to be just a little lightheaded.

Everyone waited a few minutes before saying anything else, giving Jess a few minutes to recover from whatever it was that was ailing him. The boy wasn't sure he needed the time, but was thankful for it. It gave him time to collect his thoughts.

Jess had heard of panic attacks, as he had just completed his Psychology course the previous trimester, and was also fairly certain that he had had one before, years ago. This one seemed much more aggressive.

"Jack, Mary," Renick addressed Jess's parents once Jess seemed a little better off. "Do you mind if I speak to Jess privately for a little while?"

"Come on, girls," Mr. Aarons said after nodding, placing his hand on his wife's back to direct her into the kitchen. "Let's go out to the greenhouse for a little bit."

Joyce Ann was quick to comply, though May Belle seemed a bit hesitant. She started after her parents, but then halted in front of Renick.

"Is Jess going to be all right?"

Renick smiled brightly. "He's going to be fine."

That seemed to be enough for the young girl, who smiled back and hurried off after her family. Once she was gone and the room was clear, Renick turned the distracted portion of his attention back to Jess, who was still just a little bit shaken. However, he was more curious than concerned at this point.

"I'm fine, really."

Renick considered Jess for a long moment, his face taking on a very pensive expression. Jess wondered what might be going through his teacher's mind.

"Jess, has this ever happened to you before?"

Of course, the answer was yes. It was a bit vague, but Jess could recall a time when he had felt much the same as he had minutes earlier. He had actually forgotten about the incident until all of this had happened.

"Yeah," said Jess. "Once. A few years ago."

Renick nodded again, something he seemed to be doing a lot in the span of his visit. This was another thing that Jess wished he would stop doing.

"Can you tell me about it?"

Of course he could, but Jess wasn't so sure that he wanted to. That time period in his life had been very hard himself, the Burkes, and his entire family to some extent. Jess didn't like talking about it, and tried not to unless he really had to. The last time he had even spoken openly about it with someone other than Leslie had been three months earlier, when school had started.

"I'm not going to force you to talk about it if it's painful, Jess." Renick's tone was presented in a very caring manner. "I just think you need to talk about anything that's bothering you."

"It was a few years ago," Jess started. "Just before Leslie's accident. The night before, actually."

Jess recounted the incident, explaining to his teacher a profound sense of dread, panic and hopelessness that he had experienced the night before the accident that had nearly cost his friend her life. He had recounted it only one other time, to Bill Burke in the hospital in the days following. The man hadn't done much to comment, obviously distressed over his daughter's condition.

"Jess, was there any reason for you to fear for Leslie's life that night?"

Jess thought about this long and hard, which was something he had done a select few times since it had happened. Jess wasn't stupid by any means. Sometimes he lacked common sense, or just tried to make things much more complicated than they really were, but he was still a very bright young man, and a relatively selfless one at that. Still, he had yet to put the pieces into place.

Looking in from the outside, Renick had some ideas. He had had Leslie in class, and though they weren't exactly best friends, he knew quite a bit about her character just from watching her mannerisms and the way she acted around her best friend. He knew quite a bit more about Jess and Leslie's relationship than even they did at this point.

"Jess, you've idolized Leslie." Renick stated, simply. "I don't know all of the details about your childhood, but I believe that she changed your life in a big way when she came to this town. She's saved you in more ways than one, I think. And you've saved her."

Jess nodded. Renick wasn't trying very hard to beat around the bush.

"Through all of that, you've managed to ignore her faults. You've probably blocked them out."

Feeling a little angry that anyone could even think that they knew Leslie well enough to understand her faults, it took a lot for Jess to keep his mouth shut. The entire situation was beginning to make him feel just a little uncomfortable, but before his teacher began speaking again a few moments later, Jess came to the realization that he might be on to something. Jess honestly couldn't name a single thing wrong with Leslie's personality.

"I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with her," the man said, almost as if reading Jesse's mind. "She a wonderful young woman. However, there had to be a reason for you to fear for her safety that night. There had to be a reason for you to panic. I think that your subconscious realized something that night."

"Like what?" Jess asked, a little more bitterly than he had intended.

"Consciously, you choose to ignore her faults. Subconsciously, you knew them all too well. You said that you were very anxious to sleep over with Leslie that night. Why is that?"

"I never slept over with anyone before. I was excited."

"I think there's another reason. If I remember correctly, it had been raining a lot that month, especially during that week. Did you ever suggest to Leslie that going over the river on an old rope might not be a good idea?"

Jess had to think about it for a minute. He remembered that time period well. The long weeks of rain always hit Virginia hard that time of the year, and that was the first year he remembered not being depressed by the seemingly omnipresent clouds that hung so drearily in the sky. Of course, he knew it was because of Leslie. She had always been like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, whether it was actually cloudy or not.

"I think I did. Briefly. I was afraid she would think I was scared or something."

"Bingo," Renick said. "She's adventurous, very brave, and extremely stubborn. All of those aren't necessarily bad character traits, but in the wrong situation, they can be incredibly lethal. Subconsciously, you knew she would try to go across the creek the next day. Subconsciously, you knew you wouldn't be able to stop her. That might be why you never said anything."

"So I wanted to be close to her?"

Renick nodded, his eyes boring into Jess as if trying to discern whether or not the buy truly understood what he had just been told.

"You're saying that I knew the rope would break?" Jess asked, somewhat confused.

"No, no, no. What I'm saying is that you knew she wouldn't be afraid to go across that creek, as bloated as it was. You also knew that if you said anything to try and stop her, she would go across anyway, if only to prove to you that she wasn't afraid to do it, even if she actually was." Renick sighed deeply. "You knew that going across that swelled river would be dangerous. Instead of saying anything, you jumped at the chance to be close to her the next day and ensure that no harm was done when she made that brief journey to the other side of the river. In the larger sense of things, you prevailed."

Jess's head was swimming. He understood everything that Renick was saying perfectly, but was still having a hard time with it. He suddenly felt himself wishing he had paid a little bit closer attention in Psychology, and wondered exactly how it was he had managed to pass the class with a **B**.

"Does this make sense?"

"Not really, but I think I understand."

"The thing to understand now," Renick continued. "Is why this attack occurred today. I want you to think long and hard about that, and then come to my office once your suspension is lifted. I have an idea, but the details of Leslie's accident are still very vague to me, so I think that only you can figure this out."

Renick gave a final nod and stood up, looking down at Jess fondly.

"Scott Hoager and Dennis Patrick have been expelled," he said unexpectedly. "Willard Hughes is being sent in for academic evaluation. I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but given the circumstances of their punishment..."

Jess smirked and nodded with gratitude.

Renick left a few minutes later, taking the time to go out into the greenhouse and thank Mr. and Mrs. Aarons for their hospitality. When the family returned inside, they all gave him inquisitive glances and hints that they wanted to know what has transpired in their absence, but they didn't pry. Well, everyone except May Belle didn't pry.

Leslie showed up at around five, and Jess immediately knew that Renick had been on to something. She rounded the corner into his bedroom and all of the grief and anxiety he had been feeling through the day suddenly vanished.

It took Jess a moment to recognize her. She looked like she normally did, except that she seemed to have made the short journey between the two houses without and umbrella and her hair was clinging tightly to the top of her head. She was also wearing a pair of small glasses, something he hadn't seen her do in almost two years, since she had started wearing contact lenses a week after receiving her first glass lens prescription.

Leslie groaned when she saw his expression.

"Don't say it."

"Say what?"

May Belle giggled quietly at the exchange and went back to finishing up her weekend homework. Jess couldn't help but feel annoyed that she always seemed to want to do her homework in his room, despite now having her own with Joyce Ann. He figured that that was probably the issue. Joyce had yet to begin school, so the concept of school work and needing peace and quiet to get it done didn't come easy to May Belle's young roommate.

"Whatcha workin' on, May Belle?" Leslie asked with some spunk, obviously trying to get over her disdain for wearing glasses.

"Social Studies," May Belle said, rolling her eyes and blowing a few strands of her overly long brown hair out of her face. "Miss Edmunds is a fun extracurricular teacher, but she's strict and unforgiving in this class."

"How long has Miss Edmunds been teaching something other than Music?" Jess asked his younger sister. Leslie flashed him a look that suggested it was the first she had heard of it as well.

"Since the beginning of this year," May Belle groaned. "She's brutal."

Jess took a minute and thought back. He hadn't actually seen Miss Edmunds in a very long time, which was unusual considering the size of Lark Creek. Brutal however, was not one of the words that he would have chosen the describe the overly nice and energetic woman. What Jess didn't realize was the feelings that didn't come so easily with the mention of her name anymore.

Everyone's train of thought was quickly broken when there was a loud sound from behind Leslie – who was still standing in the doorway – followed by a white ball of happiness that rushed into the room incredibly fast, leaped into Jess's lap and immediately shoved its nose into his face, sniffing and licking away.

"Hey PT!" Jess said after recovering from the surprise.

"I wondered when he'd find his way up here." Leslie said, smirking and glancing at May Belle, who was once again giggling.

Despite her appearance, Leslie was unable to stay very long. She left about fifteen minutes later, PT in tow, and promised she would drop by after church the next day. Despite her mother being an atheist, both of them had been attending regularly since Bill's death.

Jess went to work on trying to figure out her birthday present. Leslie was incredibly hard to buy for. It always seemed to Jess that she never really wanted anything; that she had in her life all she could ever asked for. He began to consider May Belle's earlier advice about taking her to a movie or something, but even though he was suspended until Wednesday, Leslie still had school on Monday.

"What kinds of movies do you think Leslie likes?" Jess asked his sister as she closed her Social Studies text book.

May Belle looked a bit confused and then smirked. "Wouldn't you know that better than I do?"

"We don't watch movies," Jess said defensively, as if the notion was completely unheard of. "Except once or twice. She seemed pretty impartial."

"Then don't see a movie," May Belle said, shrugging. "Take her out to dinner or something."

Jesse glared.

"Fine, fine," she considered him for a moment. "I don't know. Ask her if there's anything she wants to see. She has to know something about current media stuff."

"May, you're talking about Leslie here."

May Belle sighed, shook her head and went down stairs. Jess decided that she was right, and that he would ask her what she wanted to go and do. It wasn't exactly the most exciting way to confront his friend with her birthday, but it was certainly the only thing he could think of.

Sunday was a long day, Jess having to crawl out of bed a full two hours earlier than he had the day before. Church went quickly, but Jess was forced to go shopping with his mother and Brenda, something that wasn't exactly appealing. He desperately needed new clothes however, and despite his constant conflicts with his older sister, he wanted to see Brenda.

Brenda seemed to be doing very well. She and Gabe – her boyfriend of three years – had been engaged for almost two weeks and seemed very happy. Jess also noticed that Brenda wasn't quite as fussy as she normally was. Instead, she seemed to be doing a lot of smiling, and even went so far as poke fun at her younger brother in good nature. For the first time since her departure, several members of her family began to believe that Brenda might not be coming back. Anyone else might have been impressed by her sudden change in attitude. To her brother however, it was quite possibly one of the most disturbing things that had ever occurred in his lifespan.

Gabe was a genuinely nice guy, and his parents had been friends of the family for years. He was quite short, not standing much taller than Brenda, and he had shaggy blond hair and green eyes. He seemed a little less beleaguered to be attending this event than Jess, but it was still quite obvious that he believed there to be far better places for him to be spending his time.

Instead of complaining about how incredibly boring the trip was, or going on about how long women can spend inside a pottery store, Jess and Gabe made the most of each other's company. While the girls were inside an antique store, Gave led Jess into a small electronics store across the way, showing him the various electronic gizmos that he wanted, and a few that he already owned.

Just after noon, they all sat down for lunch in the food court, heaving Jess's new clothes, several bags filled with things that Jess had remotely no interest in, and a new game machine that Gabe had picked up (and had met Brenda's irritated and inquisitive glance with, "But they marked it down a hundred!" when she had seen him with it).

After they had all eaten, Brenda handed Jess her phone so he could use it to call Leslie and tell her where he was. The phone rang five times before it was answered.

"Hello?"

"Leslie?"

"Oh, Jess!" Leslie sounded a little off guard. "I'm sorry, I was in the ba—uh, I was upstairs."

Jess screwed up his eyebrows. The volume of the phone was turned up loud enough so that everyone at the table could hear, and it was pretty obvious that everyone at the table was listening.

"I thought you had a phone in your room?" Jess smiled. He could practically hear her cheeks fire up.

"Okay, fine. I was in the bathroom."

"That's gross."

"You asked for it," she said, and then stifled a small groan. "Can I call you back?" It was Jess's turn to blush, understanding why it was she needed to call him back. He looked to Brenda, who nodded.

"Yeah," he said quickly. "You have Caller ID, right?"

Leslie muffled a small "Uh-huh" and then the line went dead.

Jess handed the phone back to his sister, and then all of them decided to sit and chat until Leslie called back, not wanting to be caught in a crowd of people while someone had to dig through their purse for a cell phone, and Jess not particularly enjoying the thought of trying to talk over the amount of people that seemed to have chosen Sunday as their shopping day of choice.

"So Jess," Brenda started after they had been sitting in silence for a minute or two. "You two gotten your heads out of the clouds yet and taken a good look at what's in front of your faces?"

Jess looked at her curiously.

"What Brenda means, I think," Gabe started, smirking. "Have you kissed your friend?"

Jess's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Locked lips; snogged; sucked face. Take your pick." Brenda snickered.

Jess didn't have a reply, and was quickly saved by Brenda's cell phone chiming some random song that she obviously liked. She picked it up, and rather than handing it to Jess, answered it.

"Brenda, don't do anything stupid!" Jess's mother warned quietly. Brenda just motioned her hand casually.

"Hey, Leslie!"

Jess couldn't hear Leslie's reply, and suspected that the volume had been reduced, but he could tell that she was surprised to be talking to Jess's sister rather than Jess.

"Want to speak to your boyfriend? He's right here!"

Jess and his mother sighed in unity, and Jess took the phone.

"Sorry about that," he said as soon as he had the phone to his ear. "Someone forgot to teach Brenda to butt out."

Leslie chuckled. "It's fine, Jess. Where are you? I came to your house earlier and your dad said you were 'out with the girls.'"

"I am." Jess rolled his eyes, and was sure that Leslie was doing the same thing on her end of the conversation. "It's pretty boring. We're at the mall just outside of Roanoke. Mom made me come."

"It's pretty boring here, too," his friend said. "Mom left this morning to do something or other. I wasn't honestly listening."

They both shared a laugh at that, and Jess was frantically trying to ignore those who were trying to pry into his phone conversation around him.

"Hey," he said. He knew this next thing would get Brenda really started on him. "Your birthday's tomorrow, and you never told me what you wanted."

"I don't want anything, Jess," she said. "Maybe we could just spend the day in Terabithia or something?"

They talked for a bit longer before everyone started getting a little impatient. Jess said his goodbyes and hung up, Brenda's gaze going from slightly irritated to immensely pleased with what she had heard during the conversation.

"You idiot," she said to him as they started down one of the long corridors in the mall. "You don't ask a girl what she wants for her birthday the day before! I didn't think you were that stupid."

Jess flashed her an annoyed glance.

"And when you don't know what to get her, get her roses," Gabriel chimed in. "Or get her jewelry."

"I don't think Leslie would much appreciate either of those," Jess said truthfully.

"Maybe not jewelry," Gabe said. "But a girl always appreciates roses. Nothing too complex, but something that has a very heavy personal value attached too it. Think about it."

Jess took the advice to heart. About an hour before Leslie was set to return home from school the next day, he went out and went to a small shop about a mile from his house. He slapped down the one hundred dollar bill he had gotten from his parents for his own birthday, took the flowers and the change, and left. He was very careful to avoid the bus as it pulled up at the usual place and cut off his route home, but quickly went inside and called Leslie, telling her to meet him at the tree house in fifteen minutes.

Leslie arrived not long after Jess did, and he found himself hoping that she hadn't seen him going into the woods from a distance. He hadn't exactly been trying to hide what he was carrying on his way over, knowing that if Leslie caught up to him then there would be no reason to even try.

"School was weird without you today," Leslie said without a hello. "Janice is kind of different when you aren't around. Not quite as, well, _manly_."

Jess chuckled, and then caught Leslie's eye as she seemed to notice that he was holding both of his hands behind his back quite suspiciously.

"Whatcha got there, Jess?" She said, almost cautiously.

"Two things," he said. "Which one do you want first?"

"I'm allowed to pick?" She said, laughing nervously. He nodded. "Uh, the...first...one?" She obviously wasn't sure how to address the situation.

Jess whisked the flowers out from behind his back, just as he had seen done in so many movies, further proof that TV had taken quite a toll on his brain before he had met Leslie.

Her eyes lit up, and she accepted them quite speechlessly. After a couple seconds of trying she finally managed to say "Thank you!" and then made a move to wrap her arms around her friend. He stopped her.

"There's still something else," he said, trying hard to control the broad smile on his face. "If you want it, I'll need you to take a good look around the tree house, and then close your eyes for a few minutes."

Leslie bit her lip and did as she was told. She looked odd, standing there like that. All she could do for a few minutes was listen to Jess rustle about around her, and a few times she was sure she heard tape being stretched from the roll. Finally, Jess told her to open her eyes.

Leslie noticed what was different instantly. All of the drawings on the wall that Jess had made years ago, including the one of the tree house, a small map of Terabithia, and a very small picture of PT's nonexistent guard tower had been removed, and in their places were much better, much finer looking drawings of the very same things.

The Terabithian map was now much more detailed, outlining everything from the Bridge, to the Lily Long Log, to the Grove of the Pines. Even the old abandoned caravan, referring to a broken down truck, was marked in incredible detail. All of the drawings looked professionally down.

"Oh, Jess, wow."

"Like 'em."

"Yeah, I do."

Leslie smiled, laid the roses down on the small table near the back, and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. She had been dreading the return home during her entire day at school, afraid of the emotions that not having her father around would stir up, but most of that was washed away. Jess could never replace her father. No one ever could. But only Jess Aarons, even with such simple gifts, could make her feel like her birthday meant something more than adding another year to her now fifteen-year old body. It wasn't a celebration of age.

"Happy birthday, Leslie."

To Jess Aarons, she could tell, it was a celebration of her existence.


	11. Burke Tradition

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 11 – Burke Tradition  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

Only a few weeks after Leslie's birthday, there remained only a three day stretch between the students of Lark Creek's public school system and the two week vacation that would last well into the new year.

Foreshadowed by early November's sudden flurry, most of Virginia found itself blanketed with snow. Such an occurrence was rare in most any part of the state, and it became an obsession for every child between the ages of seven and seventeen to flip on the radio or television - as soon as they woke up in the mornings - with the hopes that they might hear some pleasant news and go back to bed.

That longing of any student unaccustomed to snow was quickly answered, though not quite how any of them might have hoped.

On Monday morning, Jess stood at the end of the long dirt road that separated the Aarons and Burke homes, vigorously rubbing his hands together in a desperate attempt to keep them warm. Every few seconds, he would shuffle his feet around uncomfortably, trying to keep his feet from falling off.

Since the snowfall was only ever heavy enough to stick around for very long once every five or six years, winter weather gear wasn't something that was regularly kept around Jess's house, leaving the fifteen year old standing in negative temperature and almost two feet of snow wearing a pair of sneakers, no gloves, and nothing covering his ears.

Jess stood for a few more minutes, his face locked in a grimace as he constantly shifted his focus on the horizon from which the bus should have emerged nearly five minutes earlier, and the large white house from which his friend should have already emerged.

A few minutes later, the bus had still not made an appearance, but Leslie had. She started quickly toward him, and Jess couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her. It was obvious that she hadn't had to bundle up for this kind of weather in quite some time. She wore a heavy white coat that looked just a little too small for her, and a pink (_pink!_) winter hat that didn't seem to pull down very far over her head. As she got closer and closer to him, he could tell that she was wearing a matching pair of pink gloves. Her snow boots were white and somewhat up to date with the size of her body.

"What are you doing out here?" Leslie asked with some amusement in her voice as she got closer to his position.

"Huh?" Jess grunted as he walked toward her to close the distance.

Even from a few yards away, Jess could practically hear her roll her eyes at him. Suddenly, he became very aware of what she was probably going to tell him, and he felt like a complete idiot for not figuring it out on his own.

"Lark Creek school's are on a two hour delay, closure pending," she said, still sounding as if she were enjoying herself quite immensely. "How long you been out here?"

"Oh, only about twenty minutes," Jess said, sarcasm abundant. "My feet are completely numb, and I think there might actually be snow in my _pants_, if you want to explain that one to me."

Leslie allowed herself to openly laugh since she had first since him shifting his stance from the distance when she had emerged from her house.

"Come up to the house, you got to be freezing."

Jess shot her a look that said clearly, _what did I just tell you_.

"Right, right."

Jess followed Leslie up the path to her house, where both of them proceeding to stomp the snow off of their shoes, walk inside, and then remove said shoes from their feet to keep from getting the carpet wet.

Jess found himself following Leslie around like a lost puppy, having not visited this house often in the last few years. Even though he had been there before on numerous occasions, the house still felt a little strange and – with the knowledge that Bill wasn't going to come down the stairway or out of the study with some smart or witty comment – empty.

"I got him, mom!" Leslie shouted.

"Ugh, she saw me out there?"

"She sent me out after you," Leslie groaned playfully. "I was upstairs, thinking about going back to bed. Just be happy that mom called your house and let May Belle know that her bus isn't coming either."

"Why should I be happy about that?" Jess said as he shed his coat and took a seat on the couch as they entered the Gold Room. Leslie just rolled her eyes at him again.

Leslie took off her gloves, coat and hat, and then seated herself next to him. The couch still faced a fireplace, though it wasn't empty as it usually as. Instead, a steel grate covered the opening, and a number of logs covered in ash sat behind it.

"Hey, kids," Judy Burke said as she appeared in the room from inside the kitchen. Jess was surprised at how much better she looked than the last time he had seen her, just after Bill's death. Over the last couple months, he had only caught sight of her from afar.

"Hey, Mrs. Burke!" Jess said, trying to sound more excited to see her than he actually was. He then looked back on the prefix he had used to address her, and wasn't sure if he had been right to do so.

"I was going to wait and put the tree up tonight, but since you're both here and have some time to kill, how about we do it now?"

Leslie had hopped up from the sofa before her mother had even finished talking and was motioning for Jess to follow excitedly. The Burkes had always celebrated Christmas, despite their atheistic beliefs, and now with Leslie leaning closer and closer toward the Christian side of the religious spectrum, erecting the Christmas Tree every year had become almost an obsession for her.

Jess gave Leslie's mother a defeated shrug, to which the older woman only smiled and shook her head, and was off, following the trail of exaggerated excitement that she had left behind in and effort to figure out where she had gone.

It didn't take long to find her. The back portion of the house didn't extend much beyond the kitchen, and Leslie was noisily pulling a large, rectangular box from the closet. Jess rushed over quickly, and took hold of the box from the opposite side. Together, they navigated it through the rest of the house, managing to not destroy anything in the process. Leslie almost backed into the couch as they entered the room, but Jess stopped her.

It took nearly an hour to put the tree up. It wasn't an authentic tree, of course, but it worked just the same. Leslie's mother had issues with lining up the correct colors and numbers on the branches and holes with the right pieces, and a bit of cursing was had before the end of the event.

After the tree was up, they moved it into the corner of the room, separate from the wall enough so that they could still decorate it. They began wrapping the lights around the tree, a process that soon turned to Judy holding a squirming, fit-with-laughter Leslie down while Jess wrapped a rather long string of lights around her.

After another thirty minutes, the tree was decorated, and both teenagers were quickly reapplying their winter weather gear and bounding off toward the end of the dirt road to await the arrival of the bus.

The next day was much the same, Jess waiting in the cold for the bus and Leslie retrieving him with news that public schools were once again on a two hour delay.

The final day before the break, school was on a normal schedule, and while most students lamented that fact, the truth was that the day before any break – be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Vacation or summer – was always exceedingly relaxed. High school was no exception to this rule, even the hardest of the hardcore teachers feeling burned out on their jobs and in need of some kind of a break by this point.

Jess spent much of his first period class daydreaming about random things that popped into his mind, first and foremost Christmas morning. Jess always loved Christmas, and not because of the presents. He loved the season, the sense of unity, and just the general atmosphere that the season prescribed. Even school was tolerable at this time of year, what with the amateur stained glass patterns made from construction paper and placed in the windows, the sound of the choir classes singing carols flooding the hallways at certain points during the day (Jess always tried to pick out Leslie's voice from the group, which always proved difficult since he had never really heard her sing), and just the excitement that filled the air.

By the end of the day, Jess was practically ready to run out of the school, screaming with infectious delight at the holiday that loomed less than a week away. Leslie seemed just as enthusiastic as she took her seat next to him on the bus home. Janice Avery, making one of her rare appearances on the bus since obtaining her driver's license, seemed more cheerful than she usually did these days.

"What's that?" Jess asked Leslie once Janice was distracted by something going on at the back of the bus, noticing something sticking out from the pocket of her winter coat.

Leslie pulled the long, green plant out and gave it something of a beleaguered stare, not exactly one of sadness, but one that showed that she was doing quite a bit of thinking. Jess recognized plant immediately.

"Mistletoe, from the school store," Leslie said. "Mom and dad always had me buy a new one every year, and I'd take their picture, well...kissing underneath it. I don't know why I bought one, must've been a compulsion. Probably won't even show it to mom."

"Sounds like a tradition," Jess commented.

"It kinda is," Leslie admitted. "Or was."

"My dad told me once that tradition should never die with its conceiver," Jess said, intentionally wording the statement a little harshly to base how far he went with the conversation on her reaction. It didn't seem to phase her that much, and she still seemed to be listening quite intently.

"So I doubt you want a picture of your mom making out with Prince Terrien," Jess said a bit sarcastically, and Leslie giggled a bit. "Still, you should do something. Maybe just your mom and you stand underneath it and I'll come over and snap a picture. Something simple."

"Something simple," Leslie repeated. "Yeah, thanks Jess."

Jess separated from his best friend just after the bus ride, and despite almost slipping on one ice covered step on his front porch, he did manage to make it through the cold in one piece.

Almost as soon as he was inside the house, Jess's mom informed him that another snow shower was expected that night, which compelled Jess to find as many blankets as he possibly could, and then hibernate for the winter. Instead, he ended up helping his dad out in the green house for much of the day.

That evening, Jess found himself at the kitchen table with Joyce and May Belle, happily chatting with both of them while they watched him string together a paper chain that the two young kids could use to count down the days until Christmas. Since there was less than a week left, it ended up being a rather short chain, but Joyce insisted upon its creation, and Jess was happy to oblige with such an easy task.

Christmas Vacation went as fast as it usually did for any teenager. Jess and Leslie saw nothing of each other for two days, and Jess's father took immediate advantage of the situation by putting his boy to work.

The two of them spent the entire first day of Winter Break in Richmond, braving the three hour drive between the state capitol and Lark Creek. Jess had rarely ever been there, so he was just a little excited about it. Plus, there was the fact that the two of them hadn't really done anything together in a very long time.

Their first stop was a hardware store of the same branded chain that Mr. Aarons belonged to, the somewhat cocky regional manager deciding to make an "undercover" inspection on the store. While the employees most definitely knew him by name, none of them had ever seen him before, so it didn't tale much in the way of stealth to pull off. Much to Mr. Aarons' disdain, nothing appeared wrong on the surface of the store's operation, and they both departed.

Their next immediate stop was a slightly famous store that was only ever opened during the holidays, cleverly named _The Polar Expression . _The front of the store was lavishly decorated, all manner of holiday lights tastefully strung about the frame and corners of the large building, and various Christmas-exclusive effigies littering the lawn. There was also a wire-frame model of Santa in his sleigh being pulled by several reindeer, the entire thing basked in multicolored lights, creating a unique feel for the otherwise generic piece of decoration.

The inside of the store was even more impressive than the outside, and Jess quickly found himself separating from his father to make sure that he was able to see everything.

The ground floor was stunning. Dozens and dozens of shelves were ordered along the rim of the store. Every one of them seemed to hold something unique and interesting. The very center of the ground floor held a lavish counter, wrapping a full square around the six employees standing and helping the customers check out. All of the clerks seemed genuinely cheerful, smiles never leaving their faces. All of them seemed to be college age, and all of them seemed to be filled to the brim with Christmas spirit.

Aside from the ground floor, there was an escalator on the other side of the registers that went up to a balcony that spanned the entire rim of the store. At the top of the escalator was a quite frequently used elevator that was carrying all manner of people to an unseen third floor.

Jess was so entranced, and wasn't even sure where he should begin. Some aimless wandering brought him to the back wall of the store, which was lined with all manner of toys, from _34__th__ Anniversary _Star Wars action figures, to Tonka trucks, to Fisher Price play sets and many, many other things that Jess wished he had had six or seven years earlier. Despite not being the proper age, Jess decided he could look at some of this stuff and look as if he were shopping for someone rather than being perceived as a creepy fifteen year old boy that still played with toys.

Once he was finished re imagining his childhood, Jess found very little on the ground floor that he was interested in, and proceeded up the escalator. He caught sight of his dad boarding the elevator to the third floor, but made no move to join him. Instead, he took a sharp right turn off of the conveying staircase and found much to his liking the moment that he did so.

The first small alcove he found himself in was filled with art supplies, many of them somehow Christmas themed. There were paint brushes that sported green handles which were wrapped in a reindeer or Santa Clause pattern. There were various art books that were expensively crafted with the holidays in mind, many of the same template spilling over onto wooden art kits, much like the one that Leslie had given Jess for his birthday just a week or two after they had met.

It took him a long time to emerge from that section, his eyes still alive with excitement. Across the balcony, he spotted a small set of double doors that people seemed to be going in and out of in very large quantities, those emerging often doing so with a small bag marked with the same brand logo that hung valiantly above the doors.

Jess wandered around the sides of the balcony and followed a small family into a very large offshoot from the main part of the second floor. It was quite obviously some kind of bakery. There were tons of different things lining the walls and glass displays, most of them holiday sweets. There were cakes. There were cookies shaped like ornaments and Christmas trees. There were large suckers made from white chocolate, all shaped in the form of various Christmas mascots. On one wall, there was only candy. There was everything from Jelly Belly jelly beans, to Christmas Tree-shaped peanut butter cups, to plain old gummy bears.

Jess had never felt so hungry in his life, and before he knew it, he was at the counter with two dozen cookies and money he still had left over from his birthday. He planned to spend most of it on Leslie's Christmas present, as his father had already told him that he should("You'll have all the paychecks in the world to spend on your family in years to come. Spend your money on someone you love, boy. Someone who might not know just how much."). Still, he felt that some food for the family wouldn't hurt.

After exiting the bakery, Jess took a look at his watch and realized that he had been in the store for over a half hour and walked a little hurriedly toward the elevator. He took it up, feeling just a bit claustrophobic with the amount of people packed into such a small space, but it didn't last very long, and within a few seconds, he was free.

Jess saw his dad almost as soon as he walked out of the elevator. He was admiring a very large Christmas tree. Jess walked slowly over to him, and then stood next to him, his gaze also falling on the tree.

"Think this would fit in the living room?" Mr. Aarons asked after glancing over to see his son.

"No way," Jess said. "Too tall."

His dad sighed, and then both of them moved along a very long line of trees. In fact, they seemed to make up the entire floor. There were over a dozen rows of them, each row a different size, and each row sitting on a well-blended conveyor belt that would retract a tree into the small – or large, depending on the row – elevator at the end.

"They taxi them outside, behind the building. And then some workers load it onto your vehicle."

"You've been here before?" Jess asked. His father nodded.

"Your grandpa and me used to come out here every year," he said. "We'd agree on one, and then we'd load it up. This place wasn't as fancy back then."

"This place is great," Jess proclaimed.

"It is," Mr. Aarons agreed. "Only the right kind of person sees it like that, Jess. Most people out there today would much rather visit a less crowded department store. The people here, though—they know what Christmas is about. I think I lost that a little bit, when we weren't doing so well financially. Christmas didn't feel like something to look forward to."

"It didn't have to be like that," Jess said, being a bit more bold than he was feeling. "None of us are greedy, dad. Okay, well, maybe Brenda and Ellie, but they've shaped up."

"It's about family," Jack nodded lightly. "Makes me think a lot about people who've lost a great deal of their family in the last few months."

It didn't take Jess even a second to figure out who he was talking about.

"I think we'll have the Burkes over for Christmas Eve, what do you think?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Just a few short hours later, a brand new Christmas Tree stood proudly in the Aarons' living room, the star on the top only centimeters from touching the ceiling. Despite it being dark outside and another snow shower progressing, Jess helped his father decorate the front of the house as best they could. It actually came out looking quite nice, despite the occasional complaint from both of them – Mr. Aarons' usually beginning or following up his sentence with a curse or two – about numb hands making it difficult.

Once they were finished, the whole family went outside for a few minutes to take in all of the lights and the beauty of the weather, no matter how unusual it was for them.

Even after Mrs. Aarons and the girls went back inside, the father and son duo remained out in the cold, rubbing their gloved hands together. A few moments later, both of them spotted Leslie peering out at them from her kitchen window, plainly visible through the leafless branches of the trees that normally secluded the large house. She gave them an enthusiastic wave, both men displaying a frozen-arm wave in return.

"She looks warm in there," Mr. Aarons commented.

"We could be too, if we'd just go inside." Jess pointed out.

"I'm not sure I have enough feeling in my toes to walk."

Another moment of waving and Leslie held her index finger up, telling them to "wait", her expression seeming to change ever so slightly from such a long distance. Then she was gone from sight.

A moment later, the Burke house ignited in Christmas lights, enough to have temporarily blinded the two men had they not been staring at their own handiwork for the past fifteen minutes. Though there were a lot of lights, they were done tastefully, and not overdone like a lot of people with large houses seemed to do.

"Looks like we're not the only ones that have been busy," Jess commented. The elder Aarons only chuckled lightly.

Another moment passed, and the sound of the Burkes' front door closing brought their attention to the front of the house, where a bundled up mass seemed to be having a difficult time with a string on the front of its coat. The conflict was quickly resolved, and Leslie was soon bounding toward them, closing the gap rather quickly for someone treading through two feet of snow.

As she got closer, Jack clasped his son on the shoulder, gave him a little shake, and started slowly toward the house.

"Hey," Leslie said as she took her place in front of him. She slid her hands inside her coat pockets.

"Hey," Jess replied. She seemed shy for some reason, and Jess felt the same simply because of her stance.

"Your mom called earlier," she told him. "Invited us over for Christmas Eve. Sounds like fun."

"It usually is," Jess said. "We eat, well, food and we sing carols sometimes. You really don't know my family until you've heard my dad sing."

Leslie laughed. "I can imagine."

"We watch TV sometimes, too," he said. "You ever seen A Christmas Story?"

Leslie nodded. "Once. A long time ago. I can barely remember it."

"Good, you can enjoy it again maybe," he said. "Did you get rid of that Mistletoe?"

"Nah," Leslie shook her head. "I was going to, but mom found it. Now she's insisting that we bring it over on Christmas Eve and have _your _parents carry on the Burke family tradition. I'm sure they'll be thrilled about it, though.

"Ecstatic, for sure," Jess agreed. "I should probably go inside before I freeze to death. You want to come in for a while?"

"That's okay," Leslie said. "I'll be back over on Christmas Eve. Go warm up and get some sleep. It's a lot later than it seems."

"Tell me about it. We spent most of the day in Richmond, _walking_!" Jess said, backing toward to door to the house.

"God forbid the fastest kid in the ninth grade should _walk_ somewhere!" Leslie teased. "See you!"

"Yeah, see you," Jess replied loudly, and went inside.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Christmas Eve came was a very slowly approaching event, despite the short amount of time given between it and the final day of school before winter break. Jess made the best of it by helping his mother prepare deserts that could be refrigerated. He also helped his dad insulate the girls' room, which had been notorious for getting to cold in the winter, even when there wasn't two feet of snow on the ground.

The night of Christmas Eve, the Burkes arrived five minutes early, and Jess's father suddenly found himself owing his son twenty bucks.

"Mistletoe!" Judy exclaimed as she came into the living room, waving the green thing around as she did so.

"Great," Jesse's parents said in unison. Jess snickered. He could see through their faked enthusiasm.

Leslie came in a moment later, and Jess found himself practically entranced as she did. She had obviously taken off her coat, gloves and snow boots off in the hallway. Now she wore her socks, a pair of jeans that fit well to a figure he didn't even know she had, as well as an incredibly comfortable looking, dark red sweater that displayed a pattern of Christmas Trees and snowmen, each patterned row laced by a place line. Her cheeks were turning bright pink from being out in the cold, and the color seemed to go well with her short, blonde hair.

It took Jess another second to realize that Leslie was also carrying a small stack of packages, all wrapped in seasonal wrapping paper and topped off with a bow in one arm, and a squirming PT in the other. He rushed over with far more haste than he actually wanted to display to everyone.

"Let me help with those," he said. Leslie released them into his arms, smiling. "I'll go and put these underneath the tree. Why don't you all go into the kitchen and check out the food mom's been obsessing over for the last five hours or however long it's been?"

Everyone had a laugh, including Mrs. Aarons, and they all followed his advice and went into the kitchen. Jess could hear his mom pointing out the various dishes she had prepared as he placed the packages next to another one that was very, very large. There was a sizable number of gifts already there, and now he presumed that the pile was complete.

He joined everyone in the kitchen. They were all fixing their own plate from the large quantities of various dishes of food that Jess's mom had spent the better part of the day making, PT watching them intently, his tail wagging at an almost alarming rate. Jess decided to wait until everyone had their food to get his, and was surprised that there was actually any left. The amount of food on Leslie's plate alone could have been placed in the middle of Lark Creek and kept the population alive for a few days. She just shrugged at him as she headed for the kitchen door.

"You can eat in the living room, but be careful. The furniture's new, so if you _don't _get anything on it, Jack might have a heart attack and we might be spending Christmas in the emergency room!"

Jess shook his head at his mom's idea of a joke and proceeded to get his own food as everyone else filed into the living room. When he had his plate, he went in the living room, taking careful note of how no one – not even May Belle or Joyce Ann - seemed to have even considered sitting beside Leslie on the love seat. Jess moved in casually and sat down next to her. She didn't even look up at him when he did, and Jess began wondering where he had gotten it into his head that she would even _mind _his sitting next to her.

He looked once again at the food his friend had gotten for herself.

"Hungry?"

Leslie looked as if she wanted to say something, but settled for nodding her head and smiling as best she could while chewing.

Leslie had seen _A Christmas Story_ before, but it turned out that her mother had not. The movie was a classic, one that Jess always enjoyed, and thanks to it being a network broadcast rather than a DVD, they had breaks in the movie to chat about or around it.

In the middle of the movie, Brenda and Ellie called, both of them taking turns speaking to everyone in the family, including Leslie, but excluding Joyce, who seemed to find the idea of speaking on the phone during a movie revolting.

When the movie ended, it was almost ten at night, and after having witnessed the antics of Ralphie attempting to get his ideal Christmas gift for the last two hours or so, everyone was more than ready to dig in.

The Aarons family had always exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. Originally, it had always been because Mr. Aarons always had to work on Christmas Day. Now, it was just something of a habit that they had gotten comfortable with.

Judy insisted that the family open the gifts from her and Leslie first. Mr. Aarons had the pleasure of going first, Leslie plopping a heavy package into his lap, the result being very reminiscent of the movie they had all just finished watching. He thanked her, and then he began tearing into the package in true Aarons fashion. The bow came off first, followed by the wrapping paper, which seemed to almost disappear. Mr. Aarons seemed to have discovered some ancient secret to separating a gift from wrapping paper than no one was aware of.

The gift itself was quite a bit more than the man had expected. It wasn't a single box, but two stuck together. One of them was a very expensive looking power drill, and the other was some odd looking supplies that Jess assumed were for the green house. Jack sincerely thanked Leslie and Judy and put the gifts aside.

Mrs. Aarons' gift had been picked by Leslie. It was a kitchen joke book entitled _Kitchen Catastrophe: A Thousand and One for the Entertainer's Entertainment_. She read a few of them aloud, and Jess could tell from Leslie's reaction that she had probably read the book herself.

Next was May Belle and Joyce Ann. Their gift was in a single package, and May Belle didn't even bother fighting the younger Aarons sibling for the rights to shred the wrapping paper. The present turned out to be a small, pink stereo system ("Consider it a warming gift for your new room!")

Last was Jess. Leslie moved herself rather close to her best friend, both of them sitting on the floor with their backs rested against the sofa, facing the Christmas Tree. Leslie slid a long package onto his lap. He glanced at her, and both of them smiled at the same time.

"What is it?" Jess asked.

"Just open it," she said teasingly.

He took her advice and tore the paper away in a form that didn't at all match his father's earlier achievement. Still, he had it unwrapped in record time, and was staring one of the very same art sets he had seen only a couple of days earlier at the store right in the face. Literally. A winking Santa Claus greeted his gaze.

He snapped it open and looked inside, something he hadn't done at the store, and was amazed by the array of paints, oils and pastels that were lined up within the case. If there was ever a chance that Leslie could have beaten her first ever gift to him, she had pulled it off.

"Do you like it?" Leslie pressed.

"It must have cost a fortune," Jess said, purposely mimicking the conversation that had taken place well over four years earlier.

Leslie just gave him a slight shove, and then they both broke into laughter. No one else in the room – with the exception of May Belle - understood what the joke was, but all of them shared a bit of the laughter just the same.

"I love it," Jess proclaimed after they were done laughing. Leslie beamed at him.

Leslie opened a few gifts from her mother next, both of them being outfits equally outrageous in fashion as the other ones she usually wore. She thanked her mom and let the Aarons' continue on with their festivities.

Joyce got some new Barbies from Mr. and Mrs. Aarons, and May Belle got a new alarm clock and a small, fifteen inch television for the new room, which Jess resented just a little bit. That was forgotten quite quickly, as soon as a very, very large package was heaved over to Jess by his father, along with a smaller package.

Jess opened it up, and Leslie seemed just as eager to find out what it was as Jess was.

When the paper was off, Jesse's eyes went wide. It was a home computer, something he didn't see coming from a mile away.

"Now you don't have to go to the library or over to the Burkes to do your papers and stuff," Mr. Aarons told his son. "The small box is the internet modem. You get to figure out how to set it up. Merry Christmas."

Jess smiled at his father's choice of sarcasm.

"Thanks a lot, dad."

The elder Aarons just smiled and sat back down.

They had finished with the gifts – Jess's parents always exchanged more privately – and sat around chatting for a long time. As it started getting later and later, Mrs. Burke decided to head home. After making Leslie promise to come home soon, she left with Jess's parents, who were accompanying here because, "It's dark a cold out there."

As soon as they were gone, Jess stood up excitedly and rushed into the kitchen. Leslie followed, throwing questioning comments at him every few seconds that he continued not to respond. She remained in the doorway of the kitchen, and watched her friend shuffle through a kitchen cabinet quite noisily.

"Jess, we just ate like two hours ago," she commented.

Jess found what he was looking for and turned to face her. He then slowly walked to the doorway, where Leslie seemed intent on blocking his way out. She gave him a questioning look, which quickly melted away to surprise when he held up a small, poorly wrapped present.

"Didn't think I forgot about you, did you?"

Leslie honestly hadn't thought about it at all. She'd been having so much fun all night that she didn't even realize that Jess hadn't given her a present yet. All in all, she really hadn't expected him to, mostly because he hadn't really been able to afford much in the last few years.

She smiled and took the gift, fighting the layers of tape that seemed to be filming the entire surface of the wrapping paper. When she got it open, and came upon a black jewelery case, she felt once again like she was in one of those movies.

Leslie gave Jess another questioning glance, though this one being entirely different. Seeing his encouraging, nervous, and happy expression, she slowly opened the case.

Inside was a golden necklace – a locket – that was beyond anything she had even expected. On the front of it, the words _Leslie Burke _were spelled out in elaborate, exotic lettering.

She looked up at him, not even realizing that her mouth was slightly agape. He just smiled, his eyebrows raised as if waiting for a negative verdict being read in a court room.

"Open it up," he said, his voice croaking slightly.

She did, being extremely gentle, suddenly afraid to mess anything up at that moment.

"_Leslie Burke,_" she said, repeating the words on the outside. "_The Bridge to Terabithia._"

She looked back up at him, the four inches he had over her suddenly seeming like feet. Their eyes locked for an exceedingly large amount of time, and Leslie was now aware that her mouth was agape and that there was some moisture building up in her eyes. She didn't care.

In looking up at him, something else caught her attention. At first, it was the faintest strand of green, but it soon came to light as her mind clicked and cleared of its psychological fog. She wasn't even sure she had noticed it there during the entire night, and from the startled look on Jess's face when he glanced at what had stolen her attention, neither had he.

The mistletoe.

Both of them knew what was going to happen, and both of them had parts of their mind telling them to prevent it from happening at all costs. In the end, both decided that that part of their minds were wrong, and before either of them knew that what they knew would happen was happening, the three inch gap, upward inclined gap between Leslie Burke and Jess Aarons' lips had been closed.

Neither of them had ever done this before, and both of them attempted to mimic what they had seen in movies or television shows. After a couple of seconds, Jess heard the jewelery case snap shut, and then he felt one of Leslie's hands grasp his shoulder, while the older pinched at his shirt in some awkward attempt to pull him closer.

Jess's mind was in a whirl. Some part of him was still screaming that he was making a mistake, that he could ruin a perfect friendship by doing this. Still, it felt right, like it should have happened a long time ago.

The kiss only lasted a few more seconds, the two friends separating and staring rather wide eyed at one another. They didn't have any time to say anything before there were sounds of voices, followed by the front door opening. Jess stumbled backward, into the kitchen, and quickly tried to find something to do. Leslie quickly turned around, standing in the doorway and obviously a bit flustered, to greet Jess's parents.

"Hey, um," she started a bit awkwardly. "Look what Jess got me!"

Jess's dad only smiled. He had already seen the present when they were shopping in Richmond. He had actually helped Jess pay for it, since it was a little more expensive that his son's budget would allow for. Mary, however, had not seen it yet, and rushed over to take a look. Even she was stunned by it.

"Oh my!" She said, running her fingers over the lettering. "Are you sure _my _son got this for you? The same boy that bought me a copy of Spaceballs for my birthday when he was eight, so that he could watch it?"

Leslie started laughing and nodding, brushing her hair out of her face.

"This is really sweet, Jess," Mary said to her son – who was still fiddling around in the kitchen like he still had an act to keep up – over Leslie's shoulder.

"Yeah, it is." Leslie looked over her shoulder at her friend and smiled, and he did the same.

"It's getting late, Jess," Jack said, prodding his watch with his finger. "You should probably see Leslie home before her mother comes back by herself."

"Of course," Jess said, grabbing his coat off the back of a kitchen chair. Leslie politely stepped passed Jess's mom, having retrieved her locket, and bundled up in her coat, snow boots and gloves.

They started out toward Leslie's house in silence, and neither really said or did anything until they reached the path leading into the yard. They faced each other, both obviously a bit nervous and a little confused.

"I can go from here," Leslie said quietly.

"Yeah," Jess replied, unsure of what to say.

Leslie started to turn away, but Jess stopped her, and they locked eyes again. It was like deja vu. Both of them were freezing, Jess especially, but neither cared. Again, the gap between them was gone, and their lips were locked together. This time, the kiss lasted much longer, and both of them relaxed into it much more easily.

They came up for air, and spent a few more minutes looking at each other. Leslie finally had enough of the cold weather and smiled a bit, turning and walking down the path. Jess watched after her .

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He called.

"Always." She replied over he shoulder. He could tell she was smiling too.

He watched her until she had gone inside the house, and then started back home. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face, and he couldn't shake the feeling of elation that swept over him. He wanted to jump up and down, scream in joyous ecstasy into the night. Alas, it was far too cold for such actions, an far too late. Instead, Jess simply smiled the whole way home, and found that it took a long time for sleep to come to a love struck teenager.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wasn't going to put this out until Christmas Day, but I figure it's best for everyone to actually have time to read it! That being said, don't expect a new chapter until after the New Year! I'll be pretty busy, as I am sure most of you will be.**

**Have a Merry Christmas!**


	12. Assault and Burglary

**Stars Over Terabithia  
****Chapter 12 – Assault and Burglary  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

The rest of Winter break was a very trying time for Jess. Despite her promises that she would see him again the next day, Leslie left early on Christmas Day to spend a few days with Bill's extended family in Pennsylvania, and then she would be in North Carolina with her mother's family through the new year. Both of them had known about the trip, but they had simply forgotten. She was already gone before he had even woken up, and as soon as he realized that she wouldn't be making an appearance, he felt pretty depressed.

Jess and Leslie had been apart for days – even several weeks – a number of times before, and even though he had felt quite alone all on all of those occasions , they didn't compare to now. The events of Christmas Eve left Jess a little antsy, to say the least. They hadn't even had any time to talk about it before she was gone, and now he found that he could think about absolutely nothing other than her face, or her smile, or the sarcastic tone in her voice that she used in retort to every single stupid thing he'd ever said.

Part of him had always known that he had feelings beyond friendship for Leslie, but he just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. If he admitted it to himself, then he would have been compelled to act on those feelings, and he would have never forgiven himself if he'd ruined a wonderful friendship because of his lack of self control.

Now, things were different. He had initiated the kiss under the mistletoe, but when they had kissed later that night, she had moved in on him just as eagerly. And then she smiled at him, and she seemed very, very happy, elated even.

Everyone in his family noticed that Jess was more than a little distracted, and though all of them were sure it was because of Leslie's absence, none of them realized the circumstances that were amplifying the ramifications of their separation.

Instead of being able to talk things over with Leslie, Jess went with his dad to the office to pick up and old computer desk that was no longer in use and then spent the rest of the day setting up his new computer and internet

It took a few days for Jess and his dad – both with an affinity for the Christmas season – to finally admit that the holiday was over and that it was time to take down the decorations. The snow had finally started to melt away, leaving only a small sheet of white spread thinly across the landscape, blades of grass visibly poking up from underneath.

As the New Year approached, Mr. And Mrs. Aarons began packing and preparing themselves for their annual three-day trip to Roanoke, where Mrs. Aarons' sister always held a rather adult New Years party. There was nothing devious about it, just a bunch of adults drinking just a little too much alcohol in celebration for an event that they would quickly lament once they were well enough into the year.

Jess would be spending those three days in relative peace, or so he hoped. Brenda and Ellie were returning home during that time to take care of Joyce and May Belle (the latter consistently insisting that she wasn't in need of a baby sitter) so that Jess could enjoy the last few days of his break from school. Despite his rush to get Leslie back home, he honestly calmed down quite a bit once his older sisters were at home. He honestly didn't want to risk displaying any sort of affection beyond friendship to Leslie while they were present, not because he would be embarrassed, but because he would never, ever hear the end of it.

Brenda arrived the day after Ellie, and had some rather big news. Her present from her boyfriend, who was quite possibly the most charming and charismatic technology freak that Jess had ever managed to meet, had been a rather expensive engagement ring. Both of Jess's parents seemed a little disappointed that their daughter had accepted a marriage proposal at such an early stage of her adult life, but both of them knew and liked Gabe, so not a whole lot of negative perspective was given on the situation.

Gabe appeared hours later, having had to work the better part of the day prior to New Year's Eve, but didn't arrive until several hours after Mr. And Mrs. Aarons had already departed in the old truck that desperately needed replacing. He brought along his guitar and some other gadgets that Jess didn't have time to examine.

The first order of business for Gabe was to have Jess show him to the new computer, which he did quickly. The older of the two immediately sat down and began "fine tuning it for optimum performance," something that Jess could only watch and try to pretend to understand. He did eventually figure some of it out, Gabe attempting to explain a lot of it with simplicity, which seemed hard for him to do.

Afterward, he handed Jess an old USB flash drive he had picked up from his workplace, told him it was to help him transfer documents for school between various locations and then went to go join Jess's sisters downstairs.

Jess remained on the computer for a couple of hours, accompanying himself with being able to surf the internet any time he wanted rather having to take advantage of free time during classes at school. After a while, he found himself growing restless and bored, and ended up in the living room, watching some television program that the rest of the house's current residency seemed engrossed in.

Jess was beginning to nod off to sleep when an advertisement for the evening news dashed onto the screen, the fast talking of the news anchors shaking the bored teen out of his stupor. At first, he just watched the screen in something of an irritated glare, but that glare quickly softened.

"A Lark Creek local teacher assaulted during the long winter break. Find out why the small town's elementary school will be without one of its teachers when children return to school at eleven."

The rest of the spot was lost to Jess, apart from something or other about the possibility of rain during the two or three seconds that the channel's weatherman was allowed to speak. With most of those present having attended Lark Creek Elementary, Jess wasn't surprised to see the startled and somewhat concerned looks that were being flashed from Aarons sibling to Aarons sibling.

With all of them extremely curious and worried, everyone stayed glued to the television until eleven, at which time the nightly news came on and continuously delayed the news about the injured teacher until the last possible moment. When the teacher's identity was revealed, all of them were in shock.

"Fifth grade music teacher Julia Edmunds was found early this morning in an alley behind _Damon's Ceramics_ in downtown Lark Creek, savagely beaten. Edmunds was life flighted to Dawley Park Medical in Washington DC where she remains in critical condition."

"I honestly don't know who would do this," said a familiar voice on the television. Mr. Renick was on the screen, the heat of his breath contrasting against the cold wind with every word he spoke in the obviously pre-recorded outdoor interview. His name was displayed, followed by a title declaring him as the _Victim's Boyfriend_. "Julia's always been a care free, loving person, and I don't think me or anyone close to her is going to be able to rest until whoever did this is caught."

"Police have issued a statement that they have no suspects at this time, and that the investigation is ongoing."

"Oh my God," Jess heard May Belle say from across the room. "Who would want to hurt Miss Edmunds?"

Jess went to bed that night with a lot going through his mind. As it was only a few years earlier, Jess was surprised at how little he was able to recall about Miss Edmunds. He remembered almost everything about the time he had spent with Leslie that year, but just about anything else wasn't coming easy. He did know one thing though; anyone willing to hurt Miss Edmunds was an extremely deranged individual.

He also couldn't get his mind off of Renick. He hadn't known that the two of them were at all involved, or really that they even knew each other, but he did know that he felt sorry for him. He had once had to sit next to someone very dear to him while they were inches from death, and hoped it would never, ever happen again. He resolved to visit Miss Edmunds in the hospital – with Leslie, if possible – as soon as his parents returned from Roanoke.

New Year's Eve was nothing special. May Belle and Joyce were allowed to stay up until midnight, which was something they were overly excited about. Brenda, Ellie and Gabe did some light drinking, despite Gabe being the only one of them that was old enough to legally do so. The last few minutes of the year were spent watching the late Dick Clark's television special, and the first few moments of the New Year were spent averting eyes away from the only couple in the room, who shared an overly long kiss, and giggling lightly at May Belle tumbling from the couch when Joyce jumped down from the top of it and scared her half senseless.

The first day of the New Year, Jess slept late into the day, and only finally crawled out of bed when one of his sisters started yelling at him to do so.

He stumbled sleepily to his window and glanced out. The snow from the previous weeks had gone, and with the exception of a few puddles here or there and the muddy state of the old dirt road, there wasn't much evidence left behind that Lark Creek had even experienced a white Christmas this year.

Just as Jess was about to turn and head for the stairs, something caught his eye. Through the leafless trees that normally blocked the vast majority of the Burke house from sight, Jess thought he caught a glimpse of movement in one of the windows. He turned his attention back, watching the first story window for a second, and then glancing at the driveway.

Leslie and her mother were going to be back later that day, but the nearest vehicle to the house that Jess could see was Ellie's run down Thunderbird.

On that note, he turned his gaze back to the house, watching the same window he had been looking at before. Just a few moments later, another flash of movement caught his eye, this time from the window that Jess knew to be Leslie's room. At first, he was prepared to accept it as paranoia, until he saw a person – what looked to be a man – walk passed the window once more, probably to leave the room.

It didn't take long for Jess to take off down the stairs and burst into the kitchen, practically yelling for Brenda to call the police. Ellie intervened, made him calm down, and then give them the full story. Everyone in the house, with the exception of Joyce and May Belle who were still sleeping, went to the back door to look for themselves. They couldn't see anyone, but Brenda decided to be on the safe side and call the cops.

Afterward, they all stood outside and watched as two police cruisers arrived. The officers present all exited their vehicles and readied their guns before approaching the house, which they did slowly. Two of them approached the front door, while the other two officers moved much more quickly toward the back. Once they were out of sight, the men in front seemed to be receiving radio messages from them. Jess could hear Prince Terrien start barking, and a moment or two later, the front door opened and the waiting cops rushed inside.

Despite being unable to see much, the Aarons crew continued to watch the windows for activity, and would occasionally see a couple of the officers pass cautiously. They didn't seem to be having any luck, and within just a few minutes, they were leaving the house and walking slowly over to the Aarons house.

"Are you the young man that spotted the intruder?" one of the officers – a tall, blond man – asked Jess once he was within a few yards of them all.

"Yeah," Jess said, nodding. "I saw him in one of the downstairs windows, and then again inside my friend Leslie's room."

"Did you see what he looked like?"

"No," Jess said. "He was moving too quickly. It took me a couple of sightings before I decided I wasn't imagining things."

"I'm Officer Patrile, this is Officer Ansen," he gestured toward the officer approaching him from behind. "The house is empty, but there is evidence of forced entry. The back door was obviously forced open, and fresh footprints in the mud behind the house suggest that the invader was scared away as we arrived. Can you tell me when the residents are expected to return?"

Before Brenda could say anything, she seemed to notice something and then nodded toward the road, where Mrs. Burke's old car was growing larger on the horizon. The police nodded in thanks to Jess and started back toward the Burke house, where Mrs. Burke's car was now pulling into a driveway occupied by a police cruiser.

Brenda, Ellie and Gabe went back inside, but Jess waited for the cops to get a bit of a lead on him and then bounded after them. By the time he got there, Leslie and her mom were already listening to the officers' explanation. Leslie caught Jess's eye as he approached. He instantly noticed that she was wearing the locket he had gotten her for Christmas.

"The young man next door was the one that alerted his sister to the invader," he overheard one of the officers say as he stopped behind them. Leslie caught his eye. "She called us. Anyway, please go inside and make sure nothing was stolen. We'll wait out here."

With that, the remaining police officers (the other two seemed to have left) went to go and stand by their car, while Mrs. Burke hurried inside to check out the house. Leslie stayed behind, and both she and Jess watched her mother go inside with great interest, obviously avoiding a potentially awkward conversation.

"Hey," Jess finally said, knowing that someone had to start the conversation.

"Hey," Leslie said back, half-smiling when she turned to meet his eyes. "The police said that you saw the burglar in our house and had your sister call them." Jess nodded sheepishly. "Thanks."

They stood facing each other for another few seconds, neither sure of what to say or even where to start. Jess found himself wishing she hadn't left for New Years, because this conversation would have been over with by now.

"Leslie, I'm not even sure how to begin."

Leslie laughed, shaking her head and dropping her gaze to the ground.

"Maybe you don't have to," Leslie said. She looked back up at him, one eye closed and the other squinted due to the sun's present position behind Jess. "Maybe tomorrow, when we're back at school, you can take my hand when we get off the bus. And then maybe you can do it again whenever we see each other in the hallways, and at lunch."

Jess smiled, and so did Leslie; that beautiful smile that made his heart leap with joy ever since they had started building the tree house so many years before.

"And what about right now?" Jess asked, obviously embarrassed. Leslie arched her eyebrows for a moment, and then looked down to her hand. Her eyes followed it as she raised it, holding it out for Jess to take. He did, somewhat awkwardly, and then they both started walking away from the house, and off toward the old Bridge to Terabithia.

It was the first time they had crossed into the forest for a long time, and as soon as they saw the tree house, they knew something was amiss. Jess hesitantly let go of Leslie's hand and then climbed up. He wasn't surprised to find that someone had obviously been there, but what was peculiar to Jess were the four large, muddy footprints that caked the hard wood floor of the small structure. It didn't take him more than a second to put two and two together. The person that had been inside Leslie's house had been here as well.

Both teenagers went back to find the police still present, and told them what they had found. The two men went off into the woods to search it, but came up empty handed. Whoever had been inside Leslie's house had obviously managed to vacate the area.

Later that day, Brenda decided it would be a good idea to take May Belle and Jess up to see Miss Edmunds in the hospital, while Ellie and Gabe stayed behind to keep an eye on Joyce. Leslie had heard about Miss Edmunds on the radio coming home, so it didn't take much convincing on Jess's part to get her to come along. The long drive was kind of awkward, with Jess and Leslie sitting together in the back seat. It was obvious to both of them that they still had quite a bit of repressed feelings to let out, which would be practically impossible to do if they were spending the rest of the day with Jesse's sisters.

When they arrived, Brenda did a lot of arguing with the receptionist. Apparently, only family was allowed in to see her, but they were all saved an irritated ride home by Mr. Renick, who spotted them, and claimed that they were indeed family. The peeved receptionist simply allowed them to go on, and Renick led them to Miss Edmunds' room.

"I'm going to warn you," Renick said very quietly, stopping them all outside of a room. "It can be kind of scary. She has a lot of tubes and machines hooked up to her, and her breathing is a bit off putting. She's in a medically induced coma to prevent seizures causes by swelling in her brain, so she can't talk to you, but the doctors say that she can hear you."

Renick allowed May Belle and Brenda to go back first, closing the door behind them once they were inside. Jess and Leslie sat down in a couple of chairs, giving each other uncomfortable glances as they did so. Renick stood across from them, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"How was your break?" Renick asked, his voice rather tired sounding.

"Fine," Jess said.

"Revealing," Leslie smirked.

"I'm sorry, sir. I had no idea you and Miss Edmunds were even close until I saw you on TV," Jess sympathized.

"Not many people did," Renick admitted. "It's a terrible thing, and the authorities aren't even sure that they'll be able to bring the one responsible to justice for a long time to come."

"The one responsible?" Leslie questioned. "You mean, they know who did it?"

"They've got a pretty good idea," Renick nodded. "This incident is being folded into a larger case, something that will put the person that did this behind bars for a lot longer than this would on its own. Hopefully, that means some good will come out of the wait."

"But, in the mean time, this person gets to walk free!?" Jess felt infuriated just thinking about it.

"Federal RICO Cases take a very long time to build," Renick said somewhat calmly. Jess was impressed by how level headed his teacher was, even when the situation seemed so dire. "The Feds can't risk going to trail too early, because if they lose the case, everything they have on this guy will be void and null."

"RICO?" Leslie asked, her cheeks going pink and her voice kind of shaky. "The corrupt organizations act? They think someone in organized crime did this?"

Renick didn't do or say anything, and a moment later, Brenda and May Belle came out of the room. Brenda was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief, and May Belle looked shocked and somewhat disturbed.

Renick let Jess and Leslie in next, and both were shocked by what they saw. Miss Edmunds was heavily bandaged, and there were indeed a lot of machines and tubing hooked up to her. Her breathing was erratic, obviously being helped along by a tube going into her mouth and probably down her throat.

Leslie sat down next to the bed, looking up at Jess as she did so, and then quickly turning her attention to Miss Edmunds.

"Hey," she said. "It's Leslie Burke, from a few years ago. Jess Aarons is here with me."

Jess didn't say anything. The thought of talking to someone that was unresponsive seemed a little odd to him.

Leslie spent a bit longer talking to Miss Edmunds, and would occasionally throw perturbed glances Jess's way. Renick finally came in to retrieve them, and then they all sat around outside the room talking for a few minutes.

"He looked awful," Leslie commented as they all walked down the parking lot toward Brenda's car. "He looked like he hasn't slept in days, and the mental strain...he of all people should know that he needs to get some rest."

"He reminds me of someone, actually," Brenda said. Jess gave her an odd look.

"Who?" Leslie asked. That was when realization dawned on Jess.

"My little brother," Brenda said before Jess could protest. "Jess wasn't at the hospital all day when you were hurt, but only because mom and dad wouldn't let him. Every opportunity our parents or your dad gave him to go, he was there. If I remember right, my little brother had those same dark circles under his eyes, and spoke with that same tired, dry tone for nearly a week after you were hospitalized."

"He slept a lot, too," May Belle said matter-of-factly. "Mom said he was depressed. Dad says that he doesn't know how Jess would have survived if you didn't--"

"Can we drop it?" Jess half groaned, half snapped. "That's not exactly a period in either of our lives that I think we want to revisit."

Everyone went quiet, none of them realizing that the accident was still so fresh in Jess's mind that it would make him so uncomfortable so quickly. Jess didn't even notice when Leslie hurried her pace to stand beside him as they walked until he felt her hand run the length of his arm, and then embrace with his own. He gave her an odd glance, and she simply gave him a firm, somewhat sad looking smile in return.

During the hour car ride back, doubts by May Belle and Brenda that Jess and Leslie's relationship would ever be more than platonic began to break. Jess rolled down the window on his side, the surprisingly warm and pleasant January air flooding in. The heavy sound of air as it swept into the car stopped most conversation, but it was a very relaxing sound to both Jess and Leslie. They had done this same thing many times before, usually on long trips with Mr. Burke. The sound also seemed to have something of a lullaby effect on Leslie, as it always seemed to put her to sleep.

This time, Leslie smiled at Jess and unbuckled her seat belt, scooting herself into the middle of the back seat and right up against him. Her short hair was blowing all over the place, throwing Jess back to a time before they had become exceedingly good friends, when Leslie had given him a piece of Juicy Fruit on the bus. Her seat's window had been down at the time, and she looked now almost exactly as she did then, except for the fact that she had grown in the last few years.

Leslie squinted out the window for a moment, letting the cool air blow into her eyes, and then she closed them and lay her head on Jess's shoulder, shifting her body around and moving her head slightly against his shoulder after she had done so. She smiled, and within a few seconds, Jess could tell from the dead weight on his side that she was asleep. It didn't bother him in the least.

In the rear view mirror, he and Brenda caught each other's eyes, and his sister winked at him. He could tell she was smiling, much like May Belle was, except May Belle was turned around in her seat and looking straight at the two of them.

Jess gave Leslie another glance, and then looked out the window, letting the wind blow into his eyes and demolish his somewhat tame haircut, and gave a small, solemn smile to himself.


	13. The Cerone Revelation

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter Thirteen - The Cerone Revelation  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
__from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

The critical condition of Julia Edmunds caused quite bit more than a fuss in Lark Creek. Given the small town's approximate size, just about everyone knew her and liked her very, very much. Since moving to the quaint settlement with her grandparents ten years earlier – only a couple of days after her seventeenth birthday – she had befriended practically every parent and child within the public school system, had become the coach of the high school's girl's basketball program, and had received the however-meaningless teacher-of-the-year award during three of her five years as an employee of the elementary school.

The devastation at her grevious injuries ushered in a an extended Christmas break, pulling students out of school after having only been in class for three of the six hours of their first day back. This was highly unusual for even a disorganized school system, but it was ultimately a welcome surprise. A lot of people, faculty and students alike, had a lot on their minds and needed the extra time to visit Miss Edmunds, as the tragic event had happened only a day before school was to be back in session.

For Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke, the week extension would have normally meant very little. Both of them were good students, and neither of them had as much of a problem with going to school every day as the rest of the student body seemed to.

On this occasion however, the extra free time was very welcome, as their second trimester of the year allotted them very little time together during the week. The only times they had seen each other at school were in front of the building before they were allowed in, in a brief pass in the hallways between third and fifth period, and at lunch. Given the events of the last week and more, time together had suddenly become even more important for the two of them than it already had been.

Brenda didn't tease the two of them at all regarding the incident in the car. While she still took some pride in tormenting her younger brother, she was a bit taken back. When Jess and Leslie had been quite a bit younger, she teased Jess daily about his "girlfriend." Back then, the idea had seemed ridiculous, even to her. Now, four and a half years later, she had to admit that they made a great pair.

May Belle seemed more excited about the two of them "hooking up" (two words that had become frightfully overused in the sixth grade) than either one of the fifteen year olds did. She did however, swear not to tell a soul with the exception of Joyce Ann. Joyce, on the other hand, made sure that Gabe, Ellie, and eventually their parents know that Leslie was going to be her "new big sister."

Mr. Aarons' old truck pulled up in the driveway just after six in the evening, and everyone in the house rushed quickly to the door to greet them. However, only Mrs. Aarons came inside, quickly explaining that her husband had gone to run some errands.

Brenda and Gabe left about a half hour later, both of them having promised to stop by Gabe's mother's house that night since they had been unable to visit her on New Year's Day. Ellie slept over, but mostly kept to herself.

Jess and May Belle sat quietly at the kitchen table, listening to Mrs. Aarons give a pre-teen friendly version of the antics a the annual party. Joyce continually interjected at certain points that she should tell her mother something, to which Jess would simply reply that she shouldn't speak while others were talking. Joyce responded with the best comeback an almost-five-year-old could think of; eyes closed, face screwed up, tongue rolled and stuck out.

When Joyce finally was able to share her news, Jesse's mom didn't seem to quite understand. As the young one's understanding was far less about Jesse and Leslie's relationship developments and more about a simplified exaggeration planted in her mind by May Belle for Jess's embarrassment (_"Leslie's gonna be our new sister!"_), she could not elaborate much on her own claims.

May Belle and Joyce left to do something or other, and Jess decided to discuss Miss Edmunds with his mother, who had already heard the news on the radio earlier that day. She seemed very happy to learn from her son that Brenda had taken them up to see her, but insisted that Jess not go into any visual details about her condition.

Jess's dad came home during the discussion, and Jess was quick to find out that he had been visiting Bob Edmunds, who was apparently Miss Edmunds' grandfather and only living relative. He only found out what he overheard, and didn't ask any of the number of questions for the sake of trying to keep Miss Edmunds off his mind.

A knock at the door heralded Leslie's arrival, and she took the seat across from Jess and immediately began some good-natured complaining about her mother's insistence that she spend the time that she would normally use to do her homework vacuuming the house, tidying up the kitchen, and then washing the dishes after dinner had ended.

Jess's mother started in on Leslie with questions about the burglary that had taken place a day earlier, which she had learned of during a phone conversation with Brenda. After Leslie assured her that everything was fine and that nothing had been taken from her home, Mrs. Aarons moved on to lighter topics, mostly concerning Leslie's trip from Christmas Day through New Years, with Jess's father popping in and out of the kitchen and offering the occasional comment regarding whatever small portion of the conversation that he happened to overhear during his short presence.

After almost forty-five minutes of conversation, Leslie gave Jess a sort of longing glance, one that practically pleaded – however unintentionally – for him to find a way to end the small talk.

"Hey mom," Jess said, throwing a look of exaggerated anxiousness and concern on his face. "Me and Leslie were going to go into the woods tonight, so we need to hurry up before it gets too late."

"All right," Mrs. Aarons said. "Stay out of the mud, and make sure you're back in before your dad and I go to bed or you might be _sleeping _in that tree house tonight. Nice talking to you dear."

Already at the back door, Leslie turned and acknowledged the latter part of Mrs. Aarons' semi-lecture with a smile and a small wave, and then went out the back door, where Jess was already hurriedly distancing himself from the house.

"Terabithia?" Leslie question as she lightly jogged to catch up to her friend. "It's been a while since we've been there in the dark. Just after I got back from..."

Jess gave Leslie a sympathetic look as she trailed off, knowing full well what she had just prevented herself from saying. He stretched an arm across her shoulders and pulled her in next to him, her immediate reaction being to rest her head lightly against his shoulder as they walked. At first, she felt a bit silly for the reaction, but as quickly as that notion arrived, it was replaced by a firm sense of belong; that it just felt right.

"You miss him, huh?" Jess asked. Had this been a different topic, Leslie probably would have given him that sarcastic, raised-eyebrow and notified him how dumb the question was, but in this case, he felt her nod as much as she could with her head resting against his shoulder.

"It still doesn't seem real," she said. It felt weird for her to talk about it. She had been avoiding the subject of her father outside of necessary conversation with members of her family, and the occasional 'how are you holding up' from Jess's parents and her teachers. "I look at his usual seat at the dinner table and realize that he'll never use it again. Whenever mom makes his favorite food, he won't be able to enjoy it. When I learn to drive, dad won't be able to teach me. I'll have to learn from mom."

"God help us," Jess interjected. Leslie managed a genuine, albeit stuffy-nosed giggle at that.

"Don't take your parents for granted, Jess," Leslie said, serious once more. "No matter how much they get on your nerves, you love them, and when they're gone, you'll want to feel like everything was fine, and that nothing was left unsaid. Your sisters, too."

It was hard for Jess's mind to even wrap around the concept of anyone in his immediate family no longer being with him. Even Brenda, who had admittedly become infinitely more tolerable in the last two years or so, was someone that he felt would be difficult to live without.

They ended the death talk as they crossed the bridge into Terabithia, Leslie commenting on how "spooky" the current sounded beneath them, as it was too dark to make out the muddy water that ran rapidly down the creek.

"Leslie, listen," Jess said as soon as they were seated somewhat uncomfortably in the tree house. The moonlight seemed to be pointedly directed at them, illuminating the space about them in something of a surreal fashion. "I think we should talk. About us."

Leslie kind of tilted her head to one side, the way Prince Terrien always seemed to do whenever multiple people were excitedly barking different commands at him.

"We can't brush it off as a simple change," Jess continued, squirming slightly where he sat.

Leslie dropped her gaze to her cross-legged lap, her eyes full of thought. A small gust of wind overtook them, blowing her hair back, and then she looked back up at him, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"You know, I think I was still ten years old when I told my dad that I loved you," she smiled in recollection. "He got a kick out of it, and teased me a lot about it afterwards. It wasn't until you were the one that pulled me out of the creek that he took me a bit more seriously."

"Were you serious?" Jess asked the question as he thought it, and before he knew what he was saying. Bill had of course shared this bit of information with Jess at the hospital those years ago, but aside from it making him feel a bit better about his standing with Leslie, he hadn't given it a lot of consideration. He had, in fact forgotten about it until now.

Leslie considered him for a moment. "I was a _lot _less sure of my feelings back then, but I think I knew that this would happen some day; that our relationship would take a turn like this. There was a point when I was completely sure. You know how to win a girl's heart."

"Huh?"

"Well, saving my life didn't exactly do much to lower you from the pedestal I've had you standing on since you went out of your way to pull me out of Janice Avery's warpath. Actually, come to think of it, you may have saved my life more than once."

They both shared a laugh at that.

"So, what's the deal?" Jess asked, wanting to hear it rather than having to assume Leslie's feelings were mutual to his own. "How are we going to handle this?"

Leslie responded by catching his mouth with hers in a very quick kiss that Jess didn't have time to return.

"I love you," she said once they separated. Jess was rather wide-eyed, and hadn't been expected such a quick and forward verbal response. "But if you ever called me 'sweetheart' or 'babe,' I reserve the right to take back my earlier statement!"

- - - - - - - - - -

MOB INDICTMENTS SWEEP

THE STATE

Organized crime in Northern Virginia suffered its most crippling  
blow in over seventy years yesterday morning, when dozens of  
federal vehicles were dispatched to the homes of forty-seven  
convicted and reputed mobsters as a federal indictment swept  
the state. Sources from within the FBI have shared their enthusiasm  
in a round-up that has been over ten years in the making.

"It's about damn time," one agent told the press. "Hundreds of  
thousands of man hours have been put into getting these men  
out of their cheap 'business' suits and jogging outfits, and into  
the orange jump suits that they belong in."

The indictment names many high profile mobsters belonging to  
the DeCelino crime family, including reputed family boss Frank  
Cerone. Cerone faces three murder charges in addition to the  
standard racketeering, extortion, bribery and loansharking  
charges contained in the indictment, including the suspected  
slaying of his own daughter, who went missing in 2002.

Also named in the indictment are Dominic DeCelino,  
underboss and last remaining piece of the DeCelino  
blood line. With him are four family captains (or  
"_capos"_) and several dozen soldiers and associates. Those  
indicted face anywhere from five years to life imprisonment  
if convicted

- - - - - - - - - -

"The best news?" Jack Aarons asked his family at the breakfast table, having just finished reading to them what he felt to be the greatest news story of the decade. "Lark Creek's in the running to hold the trial. They want to do it some place low key, where no one will show up. Shame that every soul in a piss-ant down like this will flock to that thing. These people need some excitement in their lives."

"Sounds like you need a little more in yours," Jess said. May Belle snorted in laughter, coughing and letting the contents of her mouth spill back into her cereal bowl. "Can you read that part about the boss again? The Cerone guy."

"Bastard killed his daughter," Jack said with mild frustration in his voice. "They should just toss out the trial and hang him out to dry. Instead, they're going to give him a trial and give him the chance to try and get away with it. Ain't this country grand?"

His father's rant lasted most of breakfast that morning, and as soon as Jess had finished his chores, he found himself seated on Leslie's living room couch as her mother obsessed over making sure that he was comfortable. He couldn't help but wonder if Leslie had told her about the developments in their relationship, or if Mrs. Burke had always been this nice.

As soon as he got the chance to break the two of them away from Leslie's mom's prying ears, he suggested that the two of them go up to her bedroom for a bit of privacy. Leslie gave him a somewhat awkward stare, but he promised to explain.

"The diary," Jess said as the bedroom door closed shut behind him.

Leslie sat down on her bed, ran her hand through a resting PT's fur, shook her blonde hair out of her eyes and put her attention squarely on her best friend. At first, it seemed as if she had no idea what he was even speaking of, but realization seemed to dawn on her as the seconds lapsed.

"Oh," she said, somewhat enthusiastically, and then went back to a dull, uninspired tone when she continued with, "what about it?"

"What was the name of the girl that kept it?"

"Valarie Juliette Cerone," Leslie said without missing a beat. "She started the diary when she was thirteen years old and wrote rather irregularly until she was about sixteen. Then the diary just sort of stopped..."

"What do you mean, stopped?"

"I mean she stopped writing it," Leslie said, shrugging. "Not surprising. She met a nice boy, and the two went steady for a while, and she was really nervous about her ACTs and driver's test. I'm guessing she just got too caught up in her own life to keep writing in it."

"Did she ever mention her dad's name?"

Leslie struck a very pensive pose, and then stood and grabbed the diary from the top drawer of her dresser. She opened the cover and flipped through the pages frantically, finally coming to a stop a minute or two later after several unsuccessful attempts at locating a specific entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's probably the strangest thing I've ever written in this book, but I think Tony is actually afraid that my dad is going to hurt me or something. Honestly, he should be more afraid for himself, seeing as dad caught us making out on the couch the other night. He seriously shouldn't have been home, but whatever. He's always been a bit overprotective, even though mom seems perfectly fine with the pace at which my relationship with Tony is progressing._

_I think the big problem he has with us is that Tony isn't Italian. His dad married Italian, and his dad before him, and I think he expects me to carry on the legacy. But what am I supposed to do, get married to the son of one of my dad's poker buddies? Half of them are addicted to some kind of drug, and the other half are freakin' psychopaths. The only decent friend my dad even has is the book guy, but he doesn't come around much anymore. _

_Seeing the way that mom acts around dad makes me want to keep my intimate relationships as far away from_ that_ world as possible. I'm not idiot; I know what the man does for a living, and there's nothing I can do to change it. I guess the best thing for me is to marry out of our culture, and get as far away from Frank Cerone as I possibly can._

"That's the last entry," she told him after she finished reading. "I think there was another, but the page is torn out."

Jess took a large gulp and sighed heavily.

"Leslie, Valarie Cerone didn't stop writing because she got caught up in her life," said Jess. "Valarie Cerone stopped writing because she was murdered."


	14. The Dreary Day

**Stars Over Terabithia  
Chapter Fourteen - The Dreary Day  
**(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained  
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson._

The sky was pale, dull and dark. The world felt plain, devoid of all color, yet also saturated with it. The wind didn't stir, yet the grass swayed to its whim and the rustling of the trees--which seemed decrepit and unmoving despite their alluring motion--was the only sound that could be heard.

The boy opened his eyes and suddenly the world was flat no longer. Instead it was rounding sharply, as if it had transfigured into a small planet. The trees rustled more with more vigor, sounding more violent than soothing. The grass had ceased its swaying, and instead went fully erect, seeming less friendly and less inviting.

The stage was set. The world was unpleasant.

The boy stepped forward as he closed his eyes once more, praying to whatever might be listening. If he couldn't see the world, then perhaps the world didn't exist? No, that was nonsense. Of course the world existed. Before he could reach any further into that thought, his consciousness was overtaken by a sudden sharp, agonizing pain. His eyes darted open, and the source was quickly located.

The grass had in fact become considerably less friendly. One metallic green blade protruded menacingly from the top of his bare left foot. The glossy steel was stained with dried blood, which seemed impossible. Blood didn't dry that quickly. Blood ran. Blood oozed. This wasn't blood.

The boy composed himself, suddenly aware that the pain wasn't physical. It was entirely in his mind. He felt as if he'd just undergone the worst sort of psychological torment; as if he'd just seen someone killed, perhaps someone he loved. He thought to collapse, vomit and cry, but he didn't carry one with that course. Instead he harshly pulled his foot free. It didn't sting, and once he was free of nature's threatening grasp, the rows of malevolent agriculture sprang back to their natural form. The boy also lacked any sort of injury, though the feeling of emotional helplessness was still very much intact.

It was then and then only that he realized that the world seemed to be playing in slow motion. It was striking that he hadn't noticed until now. He tried to run, to sprint, and while every muscle reacted swiftly to his brain's impulse, things seemed just as slow, just as drawn out. After merely moments, he felt exhausted. Heavy. Old.

This wasn't his body. His eyes were fixed on his hands, rugged and torn from a lifetime of experience, and his arms were built and hairy. His averagely built chest was instead ripped, as built as he'd ever seen anyone. He was taller than he should have been as well. He needed to find a mirror. He needed to make sure that he was still himself, that everything he was seeing was some sort of delusion.

That notion escaped him as he looked up. There was someone standing very close to him now, but also impossibly far away. He was young, a teenager, with a pale complexion and an eerie aura about his features. He looked angry and terrified at the same time, and as the dullness lifted, as the land leveled out and became flat, color spilled back into his field of vision. He knew immediately who the person before him was.

It was _him_. There was no mistaking it. This kid was the spitting image of the person gazing at him. The boy gasped. The teenager in front of him was _him_. He wasn't supposed to be looking at himself. He _was _himself. He should be over _there_ looking back one whomever's body he was alienating.

There was suddenly an odd stillness, and he watched as the other him, the _fake _him seemed to flash out of existence before reappearing, his clothes torn and his face bloody., but his gaze just as eerie and intense. It was then that his real self--the one inhabiting this strange body--collapsed in agony. This was real physical pain. He was sure that his nose was broken. He instinctively moved his hands to his face to ensure that his glasses were intact, but of course, this body didn't wear glasses.

He was panting as he looked up at his imposter. He was towering over himself, looking beat-up, helpless and incredibly intimidating all at the very same moment. Then he was lying on his back, his head craned, his body stricken with more pain. The imposter looked worse off than he felt, blood running freely from his nose, the nondescript white shirt hanging more as blood-stained rags than anything else. One of his eyes was bruised and tightly shut.

There was a detail that he had overlooked, likely because he hadn't wanted to believe what he was seeing. A double-take forced him to accept it, however, and he could only stare in terror at the small pistol that was being aimed directly at him. At his face.

He didn't have the time scream before he watched himself pull the trigger.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke's first Valentine's Day as a couple came and went with little fanfare. They would like to tell you that they just hadn't had time for such arbitrary holidays, or that they really didn't care, but the honest truth was that both of them had forgotten. Had it not been for the poorly crafted pink hearts that began to swallow the stone hallways of Lark Creek High, they likely would have slipped through the day without even realizing that they had let the date slip their minds.

They would also like to tell you that they had gone through some kind of last minute effort to obtain some sort of a gift for one another, but that would also be one of their many fascinating fabrications. Rather than go through the motions typically shown in cheesy Hollywood productions, they approached each other on the matter, and each felt incredibly silly upon realization that neither of them actually cared. They had each other, and as clichéd as that sounds, it was honestly how they felt.

As the trimester had changed, Jess and Leslie once again found themselves in the company of one another for their lunch period, as well as a dual blocked English class leading up to it. Janice Avery's classes had changed however, and she made a point to join the pair as often as she could. Janice had taken up Marching Band, and often spent her meal time practicing rather than eating.

Things had gone quite well for both of them in their home lives, all things considered. Leslie's mom's emotional stability seemed to have improved dramatically, though she was far from her ordinary care-free, Bill-accompanied self. She'd put some weight on, but Leslie would only point out that it was normal, and that once she had a bit more time to grieve, she would probably be disgusted with herself and get back exercising regularly.

Jack Aarons had become much more open, and had dropped a substantial amount of gruff from his personality. He still kept up the tough-as-nails image, but he smiled a lot more, and made it a point to spend time with May Belle, Joyce and even Jess as often as he could. He had also been working on the roof, specifically the portion sheltering Jess's bedroom. Jess helped him occasionally.

Brenda was still seeing Gabriel. She and Gabe had become almost inseparable, and Jess was happy one evening to overhear his father telling his mother that he hoped the two would marry. Jess hardly knew Gabe, but he did know that he liked him. Without really being aware of it, Jess took extreme pride in his ability to judge a person's character.

Though there wasn't exactly a whole lot going on, both Jess and Leslie had found it difficult to investigate the diary of Valarie Cerone any further. Leslie had read it cover-to-cover and was quick to swear that she hadn't read anything suspicious aside from that final entry. It still nagged at Jess's mind now and again, especially the bit about the girl's boyfriend. The final entry stated quite plainly that he wasn't of Italian descent, yet his name was _Tony_. There were non-Italian Tonys out there of course, but something about that detail didn't sit well with Jess.

It was a cold, rainy day in March when Jess was approached by Renick shortly after class and only a few moments before the lunch period. Aside from class, Jess had had very little personal interaction with his favorite teacher since the incident with Miss Edmunds, and to see him in a classroom other than his own was oddly startling. The young instructor seemed tired then, and his features were beyond his years, but as Jess heard news of Miss Edmunds' slow recovery, he'd also begun to notice drastic improvements in Renick's state of being.

"Jess, might I have a word?"

Jess was still cramming his books into his backpack. He seemed to have fallen into the habit of managing to unload its contents--books on psychology, algebraic equations, history, science and literature--over the course of a single class. Leslie had gone on ahead to lunch, quietly proclaiming to her boyfriend that she _really _needed to use the bathroom before rushing out the classroom door.

"Sure," Jess said, zipping the bag and turning his attention to his teacher. He was happy to see Renick's normal friendly face rather than the somber, shadowed mask he'd been wearing over the past few months. "Leslie's waiting for me though."

"Could I talk with you after school then? I can give you a ride home."

Jess hesitated, and then nodded. Since the Scott Hoager incident, he'd been a little hesitant with letting Leslie do anything involving school by herself, however, Janice Avery had made it a point to announce that she would be riding the bus to spend the day with Leslie first thing that morning.

Lunch was uneventful. Janice and Leslie did a lot of talking and Jess mostly say about, his mind wandering off to think about Valarie Cerone's diary, among other things. He also found himself thinking about Miss Edmunds and the upcoming trial of Frank Cerone. All of these things seemed connected by a name or an event.

"Earth to farmer boy."

Janice's voice startled Jess out of his reverie. He gave her an irritated glance, which softened rather quickly. Janice looked amused, though not quite so much as Leslie. His girlfriend wore a smirk, and it seemed almost as if her pupils were smiling.

"Sorry, what?"

Janice sighed and threw her arms up, slapping her palms on her legs in an extreme overdramatized effort. "I asked you if you were going to the spring dance next week."

Jess's eyes snapped to Leslie and then back to Janice. The former bully was looking at him expectantly, as if his answer would tell her everything that she needed to know to succeed in life. It was rather unnerving.

"I didn't realize there was a dance next week," Jess said honestly. He took a large bite of the terrible tasting school hamburger, but managed to stomach it given the amount of time he needed to buy. The seconds that it took him to chew and down the mouthful went by uncomfortably, with no one uttering so much as a syllable. "Probably not, no."

"You could go with me."

Jess's face went pale and his eyes went wide, immediately locking with Leslie's, which shared a similar state. He felt cold and started to sweat at the exact same time, which was telling in and of itself. Janice Avery had just asked him out. To a dance. He wasn't at all sure what to do. He and Leslie had opted to keep her in the dark for a while regarding their relationship, and that decision seemed to be backfiring badly.

"Uh, well..." Jess stammered. "I guess I...well...maybe...hmm." He flashed Leslie his best _What-The-Heck-Do-I-Do-Here _expression and all at once, Janice cracked a wide grin and started laughing.

"You two are terrible at this," she said in an amused voice. "I hope you're never trusted with a national secret or anything. You really are awful!"

Jess and Leslie both looked confused and horrified.

"It is a matter of _public record_," Janice began, putting a very official tone to her not-quite-feminine voice. "At approximately 7:26 AM on March the ninth, Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke were seen holding hands and _kissing _by one _Eric Hatcher _as he passed their place of transportational pick-up to their place of learning."

"I don't think' transportational' is a word Janice," Leslie said, sounding slightly amused. Janice gave her a looked and rolled her eyes before looking back to Jess, at whom she laughed slightly upon seeing that he had flipped open his dictionary and had begun reverently flipping through the T section.

"Oh stop," Janice said, slapping Jesse's shoulder and attempting to sound angry. "Now, when did this happen? Beanpole here was supposed to let me know the second someone dug your head out of the mud so that you could make out with this poor girl. She's been waiting for like a year or something."

Leslie's face had gone from amused to resembling a lighthouse equipped with a red bulb. Had the room been dark, her face would have likely been visible. Jess laughed.

"Christmas."

"_WHAT!?"_ Janice might as well have moved the conversation to Renick's office and flipped on the loudspeaker. Every head at the nearby tables turned in their direction, all attentive faces screwed up in curiosity.

"Guess I put off telling you a few seconds longer than I should have." Leslie said.

Janice spent the few remaining minutes of the lunch period with her head on the table, shaking her head comically every time one of them attempted to speak to her or to get her to talk. When the bell rang, they all stood up and Janice marched away without a word. Jess and Leslie could both tell that she was just messing around and being overdramatic as always, and chose to humor her.

The rest of the day was interesting , to say the least. Neither Eric Hatcher or Janice Avery seemed particularly fond of keeping secrets, something that Jess planned to point out to her the next time that they met. After all, she'd made a point at telling he and Leslie how bad _their _secret-keeping capabilities were. By sixth period, it seemed as if the entire school knew, and by seventh, Jess was under the distinct impression that absolutely zero members of the student body were surprised by the development. Many more than Jess would have guessed had already believed the two of them to have already been a couple.

At the end of the day, Jess met Leslie at their locker. He'd forgotten to tell her that he wouldn't be riding the bus home, but she was fine with it and hurried off quickly to join Janice.

Mr. Renick wasn't in his office or his classroom, and Jess found himself frustrated pretty quickly, thinking he had missed the bus for no reason. He finally found the young principal moving energetically down the stairs from the second floor. He didn't look particularly happy or upset, but something definitely had him excited.

The two of them went to the psychology classroom, as the principal's office was too frequented by visitors. Renick closed the door and took a seat on a student desk in front of Jess, his feet resting on the small chair.

"How are things, Jess?"

Jess regarded his favorite teacher with uncertainty. He was sure that the man had asked him to stay after school for something a little more pressing than a simple conversational catch-up. Still, we wasn't yet prepared to question Renick's motives. He carried on with some light explaining of recent months, including his budding relationship with Leslie. Like everyone else, Renick didn't seem at all surprised by the news, though he didn't do well to hide his grin.

"Your panic attack," Renick said plainly. It took Jess a moment to remember, and it came to his attention immediately afterward that this was a very rainy day and that he was nowhere near Leslie. "Have you had anymore experiences like that? Are things under control?"

Truthfully, Jess hadn't thought about that incident in a very long time. It seemed like years ago, despite the fact that it had only happened shortly before the holidays. More than a lot had happened since then.

"I haven't had one," Jess said. "Really, I've had a lot going on. I really haven't had a lot of time to think about it too much. Maybe I'm finally over it."

Renick looked doubtful, but stood and paced away from Jess. The teenage boy felt as if he should leave, but wasn't so sure that he'd been dismissed. Renick seemed pensive, as if he was seriously considering the best way to approach the next step in their encounter. His observations were spot on.

"Jess," Renick turned back toward him, looking troubled. "What does the name _Valarie Cerone _mean to you?"

Jess could feel his jaw drop and his eyes go wide. This really had been the last thing he would have ever expected anyone other than Leslie to bring up. What was worse was the tone that the conversation was taking. Jesse felt almost as if he was being interrogated.

"I'm not sure who that is."

"Don't lie to me Jess." Renick shook his head and reached behind his desk, revealing a solitary tome. It looked familiar instantly, but it took a few moments for realization to set in.

It was the diary.

"How did you get that?" Jess stammered, becoming even more uncomfortable. This didn't _feel _like an interrogation anymore. It was one.

"The very question I was about to ask you," Renick said, taking back his seat in front of Jess, diary in hand. "How does a girl like Leslie Burke come across a diary that hasn't been written in for years? Why does a girl like Leslie Burke and her very close friend take such a keen interest in something so private and personal? I have to wonder."

Whatever excitement he had seen in Renick's posture prior to this meeting was gone. A very dark shadow had been cast over the man. He was every bit as old, tired and depressed seeming as he had been weeks before.

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and he felt foolish instantly. He'd seen too many movies or something. "What's it to you?"

"Valarie Cerone was a person, Jess," Renick said. "She was a person with hopes, dreams and ambitions. She poured her heart into her diary, but it was never meant to be read. I took care to get rid of that diary, yet it finds its way back through my students. When I saw the two of you with it, I hoped to prevent you from digging deeper by getting rid of the last page. The entry should never been seen by prying eyes. Still, I've watched the two of you since then. It seems to have only stirred more interest from the two of you. Tell me Jess, why is that? What have you discovered?"

"Valarie Cerone," Jess began. He didn't attempt to hide the fear in his voice. "She was murdered by her father. His was arrested or something. He's having a trial soon."

Renick kept his gaze firmly planted on Jess. He looked a margin more calm than he had before, but he was still very intent, very aware.

"All this time and that's all you've pieced together?" Renick shook his head. "I can't believe that Jess. You're a good deal more intelligent than that."

Jess didn't know more than that, but he really wasn't sure how to proceed. He almost got up and darted for the door. The last few minutes had changed his impression of Mr. Renick. He wasn't at all sure that he liked the man anymore.

"It doesn't make sense," Jess said finally, speaking what he had been thinking for over a month. "Why would her father want her dead? How could he get away with it if he did pull it off? Why was her having a non-Italian boyfriend such a big deal? What happened to him? Why didn't he come forward after she disappeared and tell the police everything he had seen and heard? Lastly, _sir_, if this was such a pressing matter, why isn't Leslie here with me? She's just as involved as I am."

"You and Leslie have both taken a risk with that diary," Renick said. "You're right. Valarie Cerone _is _the daughter of Frank Cerone, the mob boss. She _was _in danger living with her father. You're a bright boy, and you're going to figure it out. I'll just spill it. Nothing happened to her boyfriend. He didn't want to come forward without his girlfriend's consent. He was a fool.

It took a traumatic event to change his mind. He eventually did come forward anonymously, losing the love and trust of the girl he cherished. She was given a new name, but she was hardly relocated. Instead, she was placed just under her father's nose in the protective custody of a man that would become more of a father to her than Frank ever had been."

Renick reached into the front pocket of his shirt and produced what looked like a wallet, only different. At that same time, Jess snapped his head toward the classroom door as it closed. An aging man with a small white beard stood with his hand pressed against the solid wood. He wore a black suit.

"Jess, this is Undercover Agent Harold Edmunds," Renick said. Jesse's eyes went wide. "He's a good friend of your father's."

Harold Edmunds was normally called Bob by the people of Lark Creek. He'd moved to the area a long while back with his granddaughter, Julia. He was supposed to have been retired, though retired from what Jess had never really heard.

The room was silent for a few moments before Renick tossed the odd looking wallet onto the desk in front of Jess. Jess looked down at it intently, his eyes still wide, but widening even further. There was an undeniably accurate picture of his teacher and principal on the identification card, but these were no ordinary credentials.

_**Thomas Anthony Renick  
Special Agent, Virginia Branch  
Federal Bureau of Investigation**_

What caught Jesse's attention further wasn't the apparent revelation of Renick's government affiliation. It was his middle name. Anthony.

He could have been wrong, but that possibility never entered his mind. In the mind of Jess Aarons, everything clicked solidly into place.


	15. The End Apologies

First off, I'd really like to thank anyone and everyone that took the time to read this story. I never expected the response I got with my small entry in the Terabithia world to be met with such acclaim, and I'm honored that even after these past two years it's still considered one of the must-reads amongst the Terabithia fanfiction community.

It's unfortunate that now is the time to nail shut the story's coffin. To be honest, I wrote myself into a corner from which I couldn't escape. I had a vague outline for a fun story that, while a little outside the norm for what one might expect from Terabithia, still captured the essence of Jesse and Leslie's relationship in an acceptable way. In some ways it was a success, but in far too many others it was a dismal failure.

That's why this story is now abandoned. I've sporadically brainstormed over the last year or so as to how I can salvage _Stars Over Terabithia_, and I just can't come up with a way that would satisfy both myself and my audience. I'm immensely proud of what's out there right now, but I just wouldn't be able to say the same for what the story would become if I were to finish it now.

Again, I apologize whole-heartedly and I hope that you won't hold it against me. Writing this piece was a wonderful experience, one that convinced me to pursue writing as a profession, and I hope that one day I can point a mass of fans back to the little unofficial sequel that started it all.


End file.
